Public Higher Education System Research Articles

Reducing Product Diversity in Higher Education

Public systems of higher education have recently attempted to cut costs by providing financial incentives to institutions who reduce the diversity of their programs. We study the profit and welfare effects of reducing product diversity in higher education, against the background of a funding system reform in Flanders (Belgium). We find that dropping duplicated programs at individual institutions tends to be socially undesirable, due to the limited fixed cost and variable cost savings and the students' low willingness to travel to other institutions. Furthermore, we find that the financial incentives offered to drop programs may be very ineffective, leading to both undesirable reform and undesirable status quo. These findings emphasize the complexities in regulating product diversity in higher education, and serve as a word of caution towards the various decentralized financial incentive schemes that have recently been introduced.

The Enactment of Reforms in State Governance of Higher Education: Testing the Political Instability Hypothesis

In this article, we report the results of an analysis of legislatively enacted reforms in state governance of higher education from 1985–2000. Building on the state policy innovation and diffusion literature, we develop a new explanation for governance change, which we term the "political instability hypothesis." Using event history analysis, we then examine the proposition that reform is driven more by changes on the macropolitical landscape of the states than by state economic climates or by conditions within public higher education systems. Our analysis reveals strong support for the political instability hypothesis.

The Status of Equity for Black Undergraduates in Public Higher Education in the South: Still Separate and Unequal*

This paper uses data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System to examine the status of equity for Blacks in enrollment and bachelor’s degree attainment at public higher education institutions in the South. This paper also examines whether the status of equity in these indicators varies based on the type of civil rights oversight. The descriptive analyses show that, despite some progress in some states, for some outcomes, at some points in time between 1991 and 2001, substantial inequities in enrollment and bachelor’s degree completion for Blacks remain. The analyses also show that these inequities are unrelated to whether the state is currently being monitored by the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), has been ruled in compliance by OCR, or is under federal court order to desegregate the state’s public higher education system. Regardless of type of civil rights oversight, the status of Blacks varies by institutional sector, with Blacks generally experiencing the greatest inequity at the public flagship institutions.

Participation and Schooling in a Public System of Higher Education

We analyze the determinants of participation (whether to study) and schooling (where and what to study) in a public system of higher education, based on a unique dataset of all eligible high school pupils in an essentially closed region (Flanders). We find that pupils perceive the available institutions and programs as close substitutes, implying an ambiguous role for travel costs: they hardly affect the participation decisions, but have a strong impact on the schooling decisions. In addition, high school background plays an important role in both the participation and schooling decisions. To illustrate how our empirical results can inform the debate on reforming public systems, we assess the effects of tuition fee increases. Uniform cost-based tuition fee increases achieve most of the welfare gains; the additional gains from fee differentiation are relatively unimportant. These welfare gains are quite large if one makes conservative assumptions on the social cost of public funds, and there is a substantial redistribution from students to outsiders.

The Changing Paradigm in Public Legal Education

The nation's founding fathers, led by Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, envisioned a democracy based upon a highly educated population. The public universities were founded to fulfill that mission. Professional schools, such as law, medicine, engineering, and business soon followed. The public higher education system was one of America's greatest achievements by the end of the Twentieth Century. The nation's flagship public universities, masters colleges, and community colleges educate 80% of the nation's college students. However, state budget cuts in recent years reflect systemic changes in public financing from discretionary spending, especially higher education, to mandates and entitlements. The public law schools have borne a disproportionate share of the budget cuts as universities realized law schools could charge market-based tuition. The result is an explosion in tuition for both state residents and non-residents. These substantial tuition increases may plug the budget gaps in the short term, but substantially threaten the ethos of a public law school. Access and affordability are most at risk as the public law schools increasingly mirror their private competitors, but often without the endowment resources of their rivals. The problem is heightened by the pressure U.S. News & World Reports places on schools to raise the numerical indicia (LSAT's and GPA's) of the entering class. Financial aid funds are therefore often used to award scholarships based on merit rather than need, further limiting access and affordability. This article addresses the issues raised by the changing paradigm, and tracks tuition figures for 20 years to illustrate the change.

Piloter la réforme de la recherche publique

Comment poser la question de la reforme du systeme public francais de la recherche et de l'enseignement superieur? Le texte passe en revue les nombreuses propositions emises en 2004 lors du debat national. Mobilisant le savoir acquis par la sociologie des organisations et par l'analyse des politiques publiques, il souligne la pertinence d'une reforme incrementale favorisant un processus d'apprentissage au niveau meso et local.

Gerontology Required Core Courses and Gerontology Academic Program Success

Gerontology, geriatrics, and aging studies (GGA) academic programs are charged to produce competent graduates to work in the field of aging. The Association for Gerontology in Higher Education recommends core courses that are required in GGA academic programs throughout the United States. This article reports findings on the role of the core courses in promoting GGA program success, as defined by graduates' employment status. Objective and subjective measures of the core courses were collected by mail questionnaire from 230 graduates of GGA programs in the largest U.S. public higher education system. Program success was apparent in graduates' timely attainment of employment, employment in aging-related jobs, and job satisfaction. Core courses were evaluated highly by graduates; they were related to program success directly, and indirectly through graduates' subjective evaluations.

Gerontology Program Development in the Nation's Largest Public Higher Education System

Gerontology, geriatrics, and aging studies academic programs (GGA) in the California State University (CSU) were surveyed to assess CSU adequacy to meet the knowledge needs of the state with the largest present and projected older population. GGA increased by 16 percent from 1988-1997, but the distribution of offering campuses narrowed from 100 percent to 78 percent. Growth was greater in degree and graduate programs, although non-degree and undergraduate programs predominated. The CSU trend parallels national patterns at a lower magnitude despite higher state than national aging population projections. Environmental and organizational predictors of GGA growth were examined in an innovation diffusion model utilizing multiple regressions and bivariate correlations. County financial and aged demographic variables were strong predictors of campus size and presence of a Gerontology Center, but only moderately correlated with GGA. Aged demography was not related consistently to GGA in the present population or in national samples, calling for further analysis of higher education institutions and the political economy within which the demographic imperative may be expressed in GGA program development.

Education in the New China: Shaping Ideas at Work. By Yvonne Turner and Amy Acker. [Aldershot, Hampshire: Ashgate, 2002. viii + 247 pp. £42.50. ISBN 0-7546-1914-1.

This volume explores a new and little understood facet of Chinese education – the development of private colleges which recruit students outside the public higher education system. These institutions typically charge high fees and emphasize fields of knowledge such as business and foreign languages, which may help graduates find their way into China's thriving ‘new’ economy.

Formação de professores exige rede!

O analisa as políticas públicas de comunicação e de educação, com ênfase na formação de professores. Os projetos governamentais na área de educação a distância, especialmente o Programa TV Escola e o PROINFO, são analisados identificando a distância que existe entre os planos governamentais e a realidade educacional brasileira. Fica evidente, no discurso oficial, que, em última instância, se as políticas não derem certo, a culpa será sempre do professor. Isso vem se dando em razão da desvalorização continuada do professorado, reforçada contemporaneamente com a implantação de programas de educação a distância para a formação de professores. Na maioria das vezes, isso se dá de forma aligeirada e superficial, preocupando-se os programas, em última instância, apenas com a certificação dos professores para atender à LDB. Em oposição a isso, enfatiza-se a necessidade de fortalecimento da escola e do professor através de, entre outras coisas, oferecimento de sólida formação e da melhoria das condições de trabalho, incluindo aí a necessária presença das Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação (TIC). Na análise dessa políticas, evidencia-se a distância do MEC do sistema público de ensino superior, em especial das faculdades de educação, que poderiam desempenhar importante papel nesse momento.

Higher Education in the Sultanate of Oman: The challenge of access, equity and privatization

During the renaissance of the last 30 years, the Sultanate of Oman has established a relatively large and diverse system of general (pre-tertiary) education. The rapid and dynamic expansion of general education has produced an ever-increasing demand for higher education unmatched by supply. This discrepancy has yielded a large number of secondary school graduates competing for limited numbers of higher (post-secondary) public education places in the Sultanate of Oman. This paper surveys the system of higher education in the Sultanate of Oman. It examines the challenge of access, equity and privatization in light of the current predicament of a disparity between supply and demand for higher education in the Sultanate of Oman. Results from the study indicate a lack of a consolidated system of higher education. The current system is managed by a number of different ministries and government authorities. There is no tradition of charging fees and tuition in the public system of higher education. Privatization of higher education in the Sultanate of Oman is a relatively recent market orientation phenomenon. There is no established mechanism for student loans in place. The practice of endowment and philanthropy in higher education is non-existent; this is exacerbated by an absence of allowable tax deductions for donations. The paper proposes a framework for a consolidated management system of higher education along with market orientation reforms and remedial strategies for higher education in the Sultanate of Oman.

No Rookies on Rookies

(2001). No Rookies on Rookies. The Journal of Higher Education: Vol. 72, No. 4, pp. 453-477.

The California Idea and American Higher Education: 1850 to the 1960 Master Plan

Throughout the twentieth century, public universities were established across the United States at a dizzying pace, transforming the scope and purpose of American higher education. Leading the way was California, with its internationally renowned network of public colleges and universities. This book is the first comprehensive history of California's pioneering efforts to create an expansive and high-quality system of public higher education. author traces the social, political, and economic forces that established and funded an innovative, uniquely tiered, and geographically dispersed network of public campuses in California. This influential model for higher education, The California Idea, created an organizational structure that combined the promise of broad access to public higher education with a desire to develop institutions of high academic quality. Following the story from early statehood through to the politics and economic forces that eventually resulted in the 1960 California Master Plan for Higher Education, California Idea and American Higher Education offers a carefully crafted history of public higher education.

Student Persistence in a Public Higher Education System

(2001). Student Persistence in a Public Higher Education System. The Journal of Higher Education: Vol. 72, No. 3, pp. 265-286.

Student Persistence in a Public Higher Education System: Understanding Racial and Ethnic Differences

Student Persistence in a Public Higher Education System: Understanding Racial and Ethnic Differences

A University Helps Prepare Low Income Youths for College

Tracking School Success Introduction Over the last decade various programs that have helped boost enrollment in higher education have come under attack or have been eliminated. One response to the problem of maintaining access to postsecondary education in an era when policies and programs such as affirmative action and remedial education are terminated is to turn renewed attention to the public schools. A public clamor continues to be heard that the schools need to turn out students who are better prepared for college-level work. The assumption is that if the schools improve, then those who graduate from them will not need affirmative action or remedial education. Although such an assumption is debatable and broad agreement exists that the public schools can improve, such a generic long-term solution falls short with regard to what should be done immediately to help those students who desire access to postsecondary education. The transformation of the American public school system is a massive undertaking that has no clear singular solution in sight and is surely not an immediate cure-all. What might be done on a more concrete and immediate level to ensure that more students gain access to postsecondary education? In this article we discuss college preparation programs for low-income urban minority youths. Such programs assume that postsecondary institutions have a responsibility to the larger society and that this responsibility gets played out via the relationships that colleges and universities develop with public schools. We begin by offering an overview of models of college preparation that are in use by describing the kind of student who might participate in such a program. We then turn to an analysis of one program--the Neighborhood Academic Initiative (NAI)--and discuss the theoretical framework on which this program is based. NAI developed in large part due to a university's assumption that an institution has a social responsibility to the students and families in whose neighborhood the institution resides. The data derive from a three-year study that included interviews, focus groups, observations, life histories, and an analysis of the students' college-going patterns. As we will discuss, close to 60% of those students who began the NAI program are currently in a four-year university. Accordingly, we suggest that a program based on what we will call cultural integrity has significant implications for increasing access to postsecondary education for those students who are most risk of otherwise not being able to gain access to a college education. Models of College Preparation Programs We define college preparation programs as enhancement programs aimed at increasing access to college for low-income youths who attend public schools. The programs take place during an individual's middle school and/or high-school years and are classes or activities that occur in addition to the regular school day. Frequently, the programs involve relationships between schools and postsecondary institutions. Over the last three years we have developed a preliminary way of categorizing programs with regard to program characteristics and instructional processes (see Appendix A). Our purpose has been to try to make objective sense of the myriad of programs that currently exist. First we offer three of the most common approaches that are targeted to specific clienteles and then turn to an elaborated discussion about the fourth program. Test preparation. The goal here is relatively straightforward and has been most widely employed in California. The approach reflects the concern of a public system of higher education for maintaining access in a post-affirmative action era. When the University of California (UC) Regents banned affirmative action, there was a dramatic drop in the enrollment of African American and Hispanic students. Many assert that the central cause for the drop off was that African American and Hispanic youths did not test as well as their Caucasian and Asian American counterparts on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT). …

State Policy and the Affordability of Public Higher Education: The Influence of State Grants on Persistence in Indiana

The coordination of state finance strategies has been widely advocated as a means of maintaining affordability in public colleges and universities. This article examines the influence of state grants on equalizing opportunity for persistence among full-time resident students in Indiana's public system of higher education. The findings indicate that the state has maintained a commitment to a balanced approach to higher education finance, with increases in state grants that corresponded with tuition increases in the middle 1990s. This investment has been sufficient to equalize opportunity to persist.

Collegiate Desegregation and the Public Black College

Introduction There is a growing corpus of literature that details the contemporary and historical importance of America's black colleges and universities (M. C. Brown, 1999; Brown & Freeman, forthcoming; Foster, Guyden, & Miller, 1999). In recent years, depictions of black colleges and universities have even found a home in popular media outlets (e.g., School Daze, A Different World, The Cosby Show). The national publicity given to the successful capital campaigns at or for private black colleges (e.g., Spelman College, Hampton University, College Fund/United Negro College Fund) has also fueled a broader recognition of these institutions by society. There is however, a quiescence about the unique position of public black colleges and universities (e.g. Grambling State University, Alcorn State University) within state systems of higher education despite this new found celebrity among many private institutions (e.g., Fisk University, Morehouse College). In order to chart prudently the future of public historically black co lleges and universities, research must be framed with a comprehensive and cogent understanding of the nexus between these institutions and collegiate desegregation compliance. Public black colleges appear to be at a crossroads in their academic history (M. C. Brown, 1995a, 1999; Brown & Hendrickson, 1997). More than forty years of confusing and sometimes conflicting collegiate desegregation compliance initiatives as well as an unjustified reliance on enrollment by policymakers as the measure of compliance have rendered public black colleges the sacrificial lamb in the quest to desegregate public systems of higher education (M. C. Brown, forthcoming). While the issue of collegiate desegregation continues to be adjudicated in 4 states (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee), state and national policymakers continue to struggle toward developing policies that can guide all 19 Southern and border states involved toward compliance. Consequently, the mandate to desegregate Southern higher education systems presents fundamental policy questions regarding institutional missions, curricula, admissions policies, and fiscal appropriations. Each of these issues challenge the historic mission and character of the public black college. The limited extant research on how to attain collegiate desegregation compliance may be an acknowledgement of the difficulty of investigating this complex educational and public policy issue. Though it is possible to ferret out the differing perceptions of the courts, government administrators and state policymakers when examining the legal history of desegregation (M. C. Brown, 1999; Preer, 1982), there is an absence of consensus regarding which policies are necessary to overcome the continuing effects of historical segregation in higher education institutions. This void may result from an unwillingness of researchers and policymakers to confront the unique positionality of public black colleges in relation to all public institutions. Consequently, higher education continues to struggle with outlining attainable desegregation compliance activities. This article documents the scope of collegiate desegregation compliance and explores critical policy questions that persist. The article also identifies policy concerns for future commentary and investigation. As such, it is not intended to advocate the maintenance of public black colleges, but to ask policy questions from the vantage of that distinctive group of institutions which heretofore have been left out of the policy discussion. Following a brief review of the literature, collegiate desegregation compliance will be placed in its proper historic context, examined for critical underlying issues, and then redefined for effective application to public historically black colleges. Highlights from the Research Literature The literature on collegiate desegregation includes myriad theoretical perspectives and positions. …

Keeping Public Colleges Affordable: A Study of Persistence in Indiana's Public Colleges and Universities

It is important for states to assess periodically the effects of student aid on persistence in the public systems of higher education. Recently, a workable persistence model has emerged that can be used for this purpose. This paper uses the model to examine the influence of student aid on persistence by full-time resident undergraduates enrolled in Indiana's public system of higher education during the 1997-98 academic year. The analysis reveals that student financial aid was adequate, largely due to a substantial state investment in need-based grants.

'Getting Organized'

Based on a broad definition of the concept of community interpreting, the paper gives an overview of the development of community-based interpreting as a profession since the 1960s. Reviewing both the field of sign language interpreting and spoken-language community interpreting in the context of migration, major elements in the process of professionalization are described with reference to selected examples. The overall picture is one of great diversity of approaches, constraints and responses to the challenge of intra-social interpreting needs throughout the world, shaped by the variable interplay of factors like the existence of legal provisions, institutional arrangements for interpreter service delivery, an authority-driven or profession-based system of accreditation or certification more or less specifying standards of practice and professional ethics, training programs within (or outside) the established public system of higher education, and a professional organization more or less inclusive of various types of interpreting activity. Typically, interpreting services 'get organized' (by institutions or community agencies) before practitioners get organized to shape their professional terms of reference, and much progress in the evolution of community interpreting is still to be made.