A Simple Unifying Measure of State Support for Higher Education

Conflicting measures of state and local government support for higher education create confusion and misunderstanding that convolute the current debate about state funding for postsecondary education. This study, conducted by WISCAPE Faculty Affiliate Philip Trostel and WISCAPE Project Assistant Justin Ronca, contends that the use of multiple measures of state support for postsecondary education is largely unnecessary. Trostel and Ronca construct a simple, single measure that adequately quantifies both states' postsecondary need and states' ability to pay. The use of a common measure should help facilitate mutual understanding in the ongoing public discourse on the funding of higher education.

Trostel, professor of economics and public policy at the University of Maine, conducted research for this project while on sabbatical leave as a Visiting Scholar at WISCAPE. The findings formed the basis of his presentation at the WISCAPE forum "Reexamining the Structure and Funding of Public Higher Education in Wisconsin" on October 26, 2006. In addition, Trostel and Ronca have published a peer-reviewed article based on this study in Research in Higher Education:

Trostel, P. A., & Ronca, J. M. (2009). A simple unifying measure of state support for higher education. Research in Higher Education 50(3), 215-247.
 

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