In a reimagination of performance-based funding, Complete College America report proposes “completion-goals funding” to provide colleges with adequate resources to meet statewide attainment goals
INDIANAPOLIS (DECEMBER 14, 2023) — Complete College America (CCA), a national non-profit on a mission to raise postsecondary attainment in the United States, today announced the release of a new report that makes the case for a shift in state higher education funding formulas that would in many cases allocate additional resources to colleges and universities to boost college completion. Entitled Ending Unfunded Mandates in Higher Education: Using Completion-Goals Funding to Improve Accountability and Outcomes, the report argues that institutions that commit to improvements in college completion should be able to access additional, upfront funding to improve outcomes and control tuition and administrative costs.
“State leaders embraced the shift to performance-based funding because they understood state investments in higher education had to be tied to outcomes, not just enrollment. It’s led to significant gains in college completion in many cases, but the pace of change has not been enough for states to achieve their completion goals,” said Yolanda Watson Spiva, Ph.D., president of Complete College America. “Completion goals-funding is the next wave of this critical reform work. It’s about rethinking accountability and funding to reward institutions that commit to the hard work of improving completion rates, eliminating disparities in student outcomes, and delivering results in an efficient, cost-effective manner.”
The report—which coins a new term in “completion-goals funding”—recommends a three-step plan for how states can implement this new funding model. It calls on policymakers to set base funding grounded in specific and measurable completion goals, allocate additional upfront funding to support reform efforts, and uphold stringent metrics to ensure every dollar spent yields tangible improvements. In addition, the report also argues that states should provide additional incentives for institutions that control tuition costs and limit administrative spending.
Interactive Tool:Explore how increased investments in higher education would translate to improved outcomes in your state.
Since Tennessee adopted the first performance funding model in 1979, more than 41 states have implemented performance-based funding, based on not just enrollment, but specific student outcomes such as first-year retention, completion, transfer and career placement. Many states that outcomes-based metrics saw improvements in graduation rates. However, analysis from Complete College America has found that the improvements have been uneven and not enough to close persistent gaps in college completion.
“At a time when public confidence in higher education is declining and hard-fought gains in college completion and outcomes are in jeopardy, we want this report to serve as a rallying call for states to continue the hard work of improving higher education attainment as an educational, workforce and economic imperative,” said Charles Ansell, vice president of research, policy, and advocacy at Complete College America. “Our goal is to move the debate forward by offering a new framework for accountability in state higher education policy. This is only the beginning of a conversation, but it is without a doubt a conversation that can’t wait.”
To help states, systems, and colleges with this work, CCA has developed the Completion Goals Funding Modeling Tool, as a companion to the report. This tool enables states, systems, and colleges to run different funding scenarios to see how their choices could affect student outcomes. For more information on Complete College America’s research and to read Ending Unfunded Mandates, visit www.completecollege.org.
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About Complete College America: Complete College America (CCA) builds movements for scaled change and transforms institutions through data-driven policies, student-centered perspectives, and equity-driven practices. Since its founding in 2009, CCA connects a national network of forward-thinking state and higher education leaders and introduces bold initiatives to help states and institutions confront inequities, close institutional performance gaps, and increase college completion rates, especially for marginalized and historically excluded students. For more information, visit www.completecollege.org.
