What's happening to public higher education? : the shifting financial burden

At the start of the 21st century, public higher education appears to be in a state of crisis. The overall share of state funding going to education has declined during the past 20 years, and with it the share of state ecucation funding going to higher education. Ehrenberg's research indicates that, as a result of these changes, faculty salaries at public doctoral institutions have declined over the past five years relative to faculty salaries at private doctoral institutions. This undoubtedly makes it more difficult for public institutions to attract high quality faculty. Public higher educational institutions, where about 80 percent of all college students and 65 percent of all four-year college students are educated, appear to be in serious trouble. In order to delve more deeply into his topic, Dr. Ehrenberg invited a wide-ranging team of experts to examine changes in public higher education over the last quarter century, and to present their findings at a conference at Cornell University in May 2005. Edited versions of their papers are presented here. The authors of the essays are leading researchers from around the country who have intensively studied the causes of the changing finances of public higher education and the ways in which these changes have affected public higher education institutions, their students, and their potential students. Public higher educational institutions, where about 80 percent of all college students and 65 percent of all four-year college students are educated, appear to be in serious trouble. In order to delve more deeply into this topic, the author invited a wide-ranging team of experts to examine changes in public higher education over the last quarter century, and to present their findings at a conference at Cornell University in May 2005. Edited versions of their papers are presented here. The authors of the essays are leading researchers from around the country who have intensively studied the causes of the changing finances of public higher education and the ways in which these changes have affected public higher education institutions, their students, and their potential students. Following a preface and an introduction, this book is divided into three parts and 16 chapters. The first part, Setting the Stage, presents the initial chapters of the book: (1) State Preferences for Higher Education Spending: A Panel Data Analysis (Michael J. Rizzo); (2) Do Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty Matter? (Ronald G. Ehrenberg and Liang Zhang); (3) The Increasing Use of Adjunct Instructors at Public Institutions: Are We Hurting Students? (Eric P. Bettinger and Bridget Terry Long); and (4) The Effect of Institutional Funding Cuts on Baccalaureate Graduation Rates in Public Higher Education (Gary L. Blose, John D. Porter, and Edward C. Kokkelenberg). Next, the second part, Individual State Experiences, continues with chapters: (5) The Effects of a Changing Financial Context on the University of California (Gerald R. Kissler and Ellen Switkes); (6) Assessing Public Higher Education in Georgia at the Start of the Twenty-First Century (Christopher Cornwell and David B. Mustard); (7) Changing Priorities and the Evolution of Public Higher Education Finance in Illinois F. King Alexander and Daniel Layzell); (8) Michigan Public Higher Education: Recent Trends and Policy Considerations for the Coming Decade (Stephen L. DesJardins, Allison Bell, and Iria Puyosa); (9) North Carolina's Commitment to Higher Education: Access and Affordability (Betsy E. Brown and Robert L. Clark); (10) State Support for Public Higher Education in Pennsylvania (Donald E. Heller); (11) The Changing Accessibility, Affordability, and Quality of Higher Education in Texas (Lisa M. Dickson); (12) Higher Tuition, Higher Aid, and the Quest to Improve Opportunities for Low-Income Students: The Case of Virginia (Sarah Turner); (13) Public Higher Education in Washington State: Aspirations Are Misaligned with Fiscal Structure and Politics (William Zumeta); and (14) Consequences of a Legacy of State Disinvestment: Plunging State Support Reduces Access and Threatens Quality at University of Wisconsin System Institutions (David W. Olien). Finally, the last part of the book, Looking to the Future, concludes with the remaining chapters: (15) Why We Won't See Any Public Universities "Going Private" (John D. Wiley); and (16) Concluding Remarks (F. King Alexander). A list of references and an index are also included State preferences for higher education spending : a panel data analysis, 1977-2001 / Michael J. Rizzo -- Do tenured and tenure-track faculty matter? / Ronald G. Ehrenberg and Liang Zhang -- The increasing use of adjunct instructors at public institutions : Are we hurting students? / Eric P. Bettinger and Bridget Terry Long -- The effect of institutional funding cuts on baccalaureate graduation rates in public higher education / Gary L. Blose, John D. Porter, and Edward C. Kokkelenberg -- The effects of a changing financial context on the University of California / Gerald R. Kissler and Ellen Switkes -- Assessing public higher education in Georgia at the start of the twenty-first century / Christopher Cornwell and David B. Mustard -- Changing priorities and the evolution of public higher education finance in Illinois / F. King Alexander and Daniel Layzell -- Michigan public higher education : recent trends and policy considerations for the coming decade / Stephen L. DesJardins, Allison Bell, and Iria Puyosa -- North Carolina's commitment to higher education : access and affordability / Betsy E. Brown and Robert L. Clark -- State support for public higher education in Pennsylvania / Donald E. Heller -- The changing accessibility, affordability, and quality of higher education in Texas / Lisa M. Dickson -- Higher tuition, higher aid, and the quest to improve opportunities for low-income students : the case of Virginia / Sarah Turner -- Public higher education in Washington State : aspirations are misaligned with fiscal structure and politics / William Zumeta -- Consequences of a legacy of state disinvestment : plunging state support reduces access and threatens quality at University of Wisconsin system institutions / David W. Olien -- Why we won't see any public universities "going private" / John D. Wiley -- Concluding remarks / F. King Alexander American public higher education appears to be in a state of crisis. Declining funding for public colleges and universities has led to declining faculty salaries relative to those of private institutions and to increasing tuition, threatening access and compromising quality. Ronald G. Ehrenberg and a team of experts examine the current state of public higher education, the public policies that shape it, and what the future may hold for institutions and their students, faculty, and administrators.Sounding a warning about the declining condition of public higher education, Ehrenberg and his contributors make a compelling case for increasing support for these institutions. An overview of national trends and the forces that drive them is followed by studies of the financial complexities found in representative states (California, Georgia, and Texas, among others), an analysis of the implications of these developments, and prescriptions for improving public higher education at the state and national levels.In concluding chapters, contributors provide valuable assessments of the critical issues and their practical implications -- from state policy initiatives to the privatization of public universities. (May/June 2009) Ehrenberg (industrial and labor relations and economics, Cornell U.) joins higher education researchers, policy analysts, and administrators from universities in the US, who discuss the state of public higher education in 14 revised papers (plus two new ones to this volume) from a conference, "Assessing Public Higher Education at the Start of the 21st Century," at the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute in May of 2005. Citing the decrease in state funding as a major influence, they examine changes in the past 30 years, why they occurred, and their effect on graduation rates, as well as the importance of tenured faculty, the impact of more adjunct instructors, and experiences in 10 individual states. The final section examines the "privatization" of public universities, and what types of federal policies need to be put in place. Two of the papers have been published previously in other versions