Performance Funding in Illinois Higher Education

Abstract

The completion agenda is the dominant theme in higher education policy in the United States today, and one of the primary strategies advocated in the agenda is performance funding in budgeting for public institutions. Illinois is one example of a state that has attempted to implement performance funding as a means of directing the behavior of public institutions toward meeting state goals. This study explores lessons and limitations found in performance funding implementation in Illinois through the lens of Rubin's model of the determinants of budgeting including the roles of environment, budget processes, and the strategies of individuals involved.

An Examination of the (Un)Intended Consequences of Performance Funding in Higher Education

“…In recent years, a variety of philanthropic and government groups have encouraged state policymakers to adopt performance-based funding policies and raise the stakes of these policies over time. Advocates of performance funding include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Lumina Foundation (Blankenberger & Phillips, 2014; Hall, 2011; Mangan, 2013; Scott, 2013; Stokes, 2012; Troop, 2014), the National Governors Association (2010), and the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL; 2015). Supporters have justified these policies by arguing that performance funding policies can help meet President Obama’s goal for the United States to have the highest proportion of college graduates by 2020 (Bogue & Johnson, 2010; Cavanaugh & Garland, 2012; Harnisch, 2011; Walters, 2012).…”

“…More recently, states, such as Indiana, have stopped using performance-based funding to award windfalls and instead use performance metrics to determine annual appropriations. The changing paradigm from using metrics to award bonuses to using metrics to calculate base allocations has come to be described as the shift from performance funding 1.0 to performance funding 2.0 (Blankenberger & Phillips, 2014; Dougherty & Reddy, 2013).…”

Diverse Students, High School Factors, and Completion Agenda Goals: An Analysis of the Illinois Class of 2003

“…The completion agenda literature advocates several strategies designed to improve degree attainment, with many of these strategies focused on improving the P-20 education pipeline (College Board, 2011; Harnisch, 2011; U.S. Department of Education, 2011). Reflecting these recommendations, Illinois has enacted a number of P-20 education policies particularly aimed at improving the pipeline between secondary and postsecondary education (Blankenberger & Phillips, 2016;Lichtenberger, Witt, Blankenberger, & Franklin, 2014). Joining many other states in adopting elevated education standards, the State has implemented the Common Core State Standards into its P-12 Illinois Learning Standards to better connect high school student learning outcomes to postsecondary preparation expectations.…”

“…Like many states, Illinois is faced with severe financial challenges that have caused the state to curtail its spending on education. As an example, state general revenue fund support for public universities as a percent of total educational and related revenues fell from 72.7% to 47.1%, a reduction of about US$450 million in constant dollars between fiscal year (FY) 1996 and FY2011 (Blankenberger & Phillips, 2016;IBHE, 2010IBHE, , 2011aLichtenberger et al, 2014). These cuts to public university operations and grants funding has accelerated even further from FY2010 through FY2015, decreasing US$475.8 million or 19.8% after accounting for inflation (IBHE, 2014).…”

Collaboration Challenges and the Construction of Complex Data Systems: Lessons from the Development of the Illinois Longitudinal Data System

“…Illinois policymakers launched a series of efforts in pursuit of this goal. These efforts included introducing Common Core State Standards into the state's P-12 Illinois Learning Standards, implementing enhanced teacher and principal qualifications, evaluating teacher performance under the Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA), and adopting performance funding for postsecondary public institutions (Blankenberger, Lichtenberger, Witt, & Franklin, 2016;Blankenberger & Phillips, 2016;Lichtenberger, Witt, Blankenberger, & Franklin, 2014). The ILDS was created in part to collect the student-level education data necessary to implement these reforms and to improve the data upon which education decisions were based.…”