College students, staff, and faculty all across the country are demanding greater racial and socioeconomic justice in higher education,…
April 01, 2021 by Kayla C. Elliott, Lawrence Haynes, Tiffany Jones 
College students, staff, and faculty all across the country are demanding greater racial and socioeconomic justice in higher education, where longstanding inequities create barriers for students who are Black, Latino, or from low-income backgrounds to earn a postsecondary degree. They join advocates and protestors around the world who are demanding change across sectors — criminal justice, health care, social services, and education — collectively calling for a more just society. In response, policymakers and higher education leaders have made public statements confirming their commitment to racial justice and equity more broadly.
Statements, however, are just a start. What matters most are the policy decisions that directly impact the lives of students of color and students from low-income backgrounds.
One set of policy decisions that higher education advocates are calling into question is how state leaders allocate resources and funds. Re-Imagining Outcomes-Based Funding: Using Metrics to Foster Higher Education Equity analyzes how well existing state policies address equity concerns and makes recommendations for designing and implementing outcomes-based funding (OBF) policies that better advance equity.
The report looks at 33 states that have allocated funding to two-year or four-year public institutions (or both) through at least one OBF policy. Unfortunately, many of these models have done little to improve resource equity or boost student success overall.
