Partisanship, Political Polarization, and State Higher Education Budget Outcomes

Gender, legislative experience, and party affiliation: Examining the relationship between state legislator attributes and funding for higher education

“…In line with the balance wheel hypothesis, several studies have found that healthy economies, as signaled by higher levels of gross state product (GSP) per capita and median household income, lead to increased state higher education funding (Tandberg, 2010a;Tandberg, Fowles, & McLendon, 2017;Toutkoushian & Hollis, 1998). Conversely, indicators of poor economies, such as growth in populations in poverty and unemployment rates, both place constraints on state resources and increase demands on states to provide other social supports, which make state policymakers more inclined to cut funding for higher education (Dar & Lee, 2014;Kane, Orszag, & Hunter, 2003;Li, 2016;McLendon et al, 2009;Rizzo, 2005;Tandberg et al, 2017;Toutkoushian & Hollis, 1998;Weerts & Ronca, 2012).…”

“…Additionally, previous scholarship has examined the effect of increases in college-aged populations within states (ages 18-24). Dar and Lee (2014) found that increases in this population are associated with increased expenditures on higher education, which they attributed to the heightened demand placed on states to provide this service. Conversely, a few studies have found that increases in college-aged populations actually lead to decreased spending on postsecondary funding (McLendon et al, 2009;Tandberg, 2010a).…”

“…Within this scholarship, several studies have examined the role of tuition. Both Dar and Lee (2014) and Tandberg (2010) revealed that increases in average in-state tuition at public four-year institutions foster decreased state fiscal support for postsecondary education. Tandberg (2010) suggested that this relationship may arise from legislators attempting to placate voters by punishing institutions for what are perceived to be unreasonable increases in tuition.…”

“…Research has also found that changes in student enrollment characteristics serve as a major determinant of higher education funding. Several studies, for example, have revealed that increased private institution enrollment leads to decreased spending on higher education because it reduces demand for public higher education, which constitutes the vast majority of state higher education budgets (Dar & Lee, 2014;Delaney & Doyle, 2011;McLendon et al, 2009;Tandberg, 2013;Tandberg et al, 2017).…”

“…Although several studies have found that Democratic control of state legislatures and governors' offices indeed foster increased fiscal support of postsecondary education (Archibald & Feldman, 2006;Dar & Lee, 2014;Kane et al, 2003, McLendon et al, 2009Tandberg, 2010a), a few more recent studies have challenged this notion, instead finding that the increased representation of Republicans in state legislatures is related to higher levels of spending (Chatterji, Kim, & McDevitt, 2018;Weerts & Ronca, 2012). As of yet, no studies have attempted to reconcile these findings, although Dar (2012) speculated such divergences might be due to differing operationalizations of expenditures, with some studies normalizing funding according to demand or a state's ability to pay and others using absolute dollars.…”