Rewriting the Relationship between States and Their Public Universities
Rewriting the Relationship between States and Their Public Universities
Public colleges and universities currently receive significant subsidies from state governments through state appropriations for operations. As a fraction of university operating costs, these state appropriations have decreased substantially over time, but in a very erratic fashion. The fact that these important subsidies have been so erratic makes planning very difficult at a state school. Also, state budget rules do not allow institutions to save money for future use. This chapter argues that the implicit financing contract between states and their public institutions is irretrievably broken, and advocates a new system for state support. State support should go to students in the form of vouchers. Schools should not receive any direct appropriation from the state, but they should own their tuition revenues. This twin reform would change the politics of higher education within states, and give state universities better incentives. This “New Compact” would ensure financial stability at public institutions.
Keywords: New Compact, state appropriations, state revenues, subsidies, vouchers
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .
