Public Policy Reports
A Generational Challenge: State Postsecondary Education Policies to Support Economic Recovery and Individual Opportunity
During this time of unprecedented economic, health, and social challenges, states must leverage higher education as a strategic asset rather than simply a budgetary expense. Governors should act now to appoint statewide taskforces to provide policy leadership in shaping a long-term, coordinated, and robust strategy for higher education to address twin imperatives: broadening opportunity to those who have been excluded from higher education and propelling the nation and states to higher levels of economic prosperity. The primary agenda for these taskforces should be guided by the First Principles for Strategic Investment in Higher Education 2020. These principles, detailed below, address state investments in colleges and universities geared to recovery; tuition policy and alternative sources of revenue; and the efficient use of facilities. Like visionary state leaders of the past, governors and other state policymakers can position postsecondary education as a strategic asset for educational opportunity that drives economic and workforce recovery and removes systemic inequities that hinder prosperity.
Full Report
College Affordability Diagnosis
College Affordability Diagnosis is a state-by-state look at the cost of higher education. It is designed to help policymakers and institutional leaders compare what students and families must contribute to pay for college—from percentage of family income to hours worked while in school—across the range of institutions in any given state.
Opportunity at Risk
The College Opportunity Risk Assessment is the first state-by-state analytic tool to consider the breadth of the policy landscape that must be navigated to ensure future educational opportunity. All states face risks to college opportunity, but each state faces different types and levels of risk within their diverse economic and social realities. To guide state policy makers in mitigating these risks, we offer individual state risk assessments based on four interrelated risk categories—higher education performance, educational equity, public funding and productivity, and economic policies that influence public revenue and budgeting.