Mississippi trustees move closer to performance-based funding for universities
Trustees of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning unanimously accepted a proposal Thursday that would tie a portion of state funding for the state’s eight public universities to graduation rates, student retention and workforce outcomes, the board said.
The 12-member board approved a plan with two main parts, trustees said. The first would determine how much money universities need for campus operations, including administrative costs, facilities, academic programs and student services. The second would make state funding contingent on university performance goals tied to state priorities.
Under the proposal, which still requires final approval by the board, universities could earn additional state dollars by improving measures such as degree completion, student retention and producing graduates who earn competitive wages, trustees said. The performance metrics would vary between Mississippi’s four research universities and its four regional universities, trustees said.
Since October, trustees have worked with the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, a nonprofit consulting firm, to develop the model, the board said. The firm gathered feedback from legislators, economic and workforce officials and university presidents and is expected to produce a report for trustees by the end of the month, the board said.
The board currently uses a “base-plus” formula that sets funding based on the prior year’s allocation and does not adjust state percentages for enrollment growth or post-graduation outcomes, trustees said. Some lawmakers have warned that a performance-based formula could penalize historically Black universities because it would not account for decades of underfunding or additional challenges students face, the board said. “The acceptance of this framework will help us as we move forward in making sure our universities are providing students with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in the Mississippi marketplace,” Steven Cunningham, president of the IHL Board of Trustees, said in a statement Thursday. “We have put a great deal of time and effort into getting to this point, bringing us closer to where we need to be with regard to a strong funding model for our universities.”
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