Let's predict

What would happen to GPAs if college funding increases when graduation and retention rates increase?

What would happen to the mix of majors offered if college funding increases when job placements and salaries of graduates increase?

What would happen to GAPs if college funding increases when job placements and salaries of graduates increase?

What would happen to the mix of majors offered if college funding increases when job placements and salaries of graduates increase?

States Challenge Public Universities to Prove They Are Worth Their Funding
by: Melissa Korn
Mar 13, 2017
Click here to view the full article on WSJ.com

TOPICS: Education, Public Funding

SUMMARY: States such as Kentucky, Wisconsin and Arkansas have adopted, or are considering, funding models for higher education that allocate money based on outcomes like student graduation and retention rates.

CLASSROOM APPLICATION: Students can discuss and evaluate whether states should tie their funding of public institutions to the institutions' educational outcomes.

QUESTIONS: 
1. (Introductory) Why are states shifting toward basing higher education funding on educational outcomes?

2. (Advanced) Just as salespeople are compensated by commission based on sales, should public university receive state funding based on educational outcomes such as job placements and salaries of their graduates?

3. (Advanced) If colleges and universities are funded according to educational outcomes, how could these institutions game the funding system? What type of funding system could encourage colleges and universities to push for appropriate educational outcomes without gaming the system?

Reviewed By: James Dearden, Lehigh University