Performance-based funding for public colleges gets a look

A small contingent of public college educators and politicians are convinced of two things: the system in place isn't working and more money won't be available.

That's why they're exploring the idea of implementing a funding model for community colleges and public universities based not on enrollment, but rather on performance.

Two of the key players involved in the movement are first-year Harper College President Ken Ender and state Rep. Fred Crespo. They are well aware of the monumental task they face in winning over colleagues in their respective fields.

"If the discussion can change from how many students you enroll to how many students you graduate, just changing that dialogue starts to put an emphasis on what's going to count at the end of the day in our own district, state and across the country in respect to an educated America," Ender said Wednesday during a meeting with the Daily Herald editorial board.

The Higher Education Finance Study Commission, created through a legislatively mandated resolution sponsored by state Sen. Ed Maloney, a Chicago Democrat, and Crespo, a Hoffman Estates Democrat, is examining the issue through a series of four meetings open to the public. The second of them takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Aug. 30, at Harper's Wojcik Conference Center.

Featured speaker Eric Fingerhut, Ohio Board of Regents chancellor, will discuss practices that have been implemented in other states such as doling out dollars in the form of funding, financial aid and grants for a college's ability to retain and graduate students.

Opponents question the funding model's fairness and argue that it shortchanges open-access institutions such as Chicago State University and Northeastern Illinois University. If there's a finite pool of money, low-performing colleges would receive less, they say.

However, Crespo questions the value of some low-performing four-year schools, pointing to their abysmal graduation rates. Some students attending such schools might be better off at community colleges, he said.

But to overcome political hurdles, Crespo said the model's aim wouldn't be punitive in nature.

"The intent isn't to punish colleges for not graduating folks," he said. "We need to put them on notice, help them and put accountability in place."

Ender added that the new formula would have to take into account the number of at-risk students who enroll at different colleges, as that impacts graduation rates.

A couple states have tried the switch to performance funding and failed. According to a 2009 report by the Midwestern Higher Education Compact, Missouri and South Carolina abandoned the practice due to either budget issues or complexity.

As for a timetable, the commission intends to make recommendations and present a final report to the General Assembly by December. But Crespo said this is a "paradigm shift in the state that will take a while."