Examining Differences in State Support for Higher Education

WISCAPE Faculty Affiliate David Weerts began this study while research project director at WISCAPE in 2002. Weerts, now an assistant professor of educational leadership at Florida Atlantic University, completed the study along with WISCAPE Project Assistant Justin Ronca in 2005. Their co-authored paper appears in the November/December 2006 issue of the Journal of Higher Education.
 
In this study, Weerts and Ronca used quantitative and qualitative methods to identify the factors that best explain variations in state appropriations for Carnegie Public Research I Universities during the late 1990s. A combination of cultural, political, and institutional factors emerged as critical elements accounting for differences in support, including: institutional commitment to public service and outreach; strength of postsecondary education governance structure; and gubernatorial and legislative support. This study stems from research Weerts conducted for his book State Governments and Research Universities: A Framework for a Renewed Partnership (Routledge Falmer, 2002), which he published while a WISCAPE visiting scholar. 
 

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