Policy and Funding
Our aim by engaging projects in this area is to advance conversations about how state funding to postsecondary institutions can better reflect the full range of students institutions serve.
Recent Work
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Equity Funding
In July 2025, SSTAR Lab released a report titled “A Framework for Conceptualizing and Analyzing Equity and Adequacy in Postsecondary Funding Models.” (PDF) This framework provides a structure to guide state policymakers and administrators in understanding, identifying, and assessing disparities in higher education funding. This work was generously funded by the State Higher Education Executive…
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Equity Funding Downloads
National Dataset By State: Territories:
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Test-Optional College Admissions
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents temporarily suspended its policy of requiring applicants to submit ACT or SAT scores as part of their application. The SSTAR Lab is partnering with the Universities of Wisconsin to evaluate the role test scores play in college access and student success across…
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Measuring College Funding Inequality
In partnership with the Foundation for California Community Colleges and the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, we analyzed funding trends among California community colleges. We tested the extent to which financial resources (expenditures and revenues) are equally distributed across colleges. We also examined enrollment trends disaggregated by race/ethnicity and Pell eligibility to determine whether traditionally…
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CARES Act Funding Allocations
The following dashboard presents data from the U.S. Department of Education’s CARES Act allocation table with the most recent institution-level data from the College Scorecard. The purpose of this tool is to help disseminate information and to explore patterns in data that have immediate implications for colleges and their students. Institutions are merged on their…