Bill > H1049

This bill establishes a special commission to study and propose improvements to funding formulas for public higher education institutions in the Commonwealth, with a focus on "performance-based funding," which means allocating money based on achieving specific goals. The commission will be composed of the commissioner of higher education, legislative representatives from both the House and Senate, and three members representing public higher education institutions (one each from the University of Massachusetts, state universities, and community colleges). Their work will involve examining how other states use performance-based funding, incentivizing student retention and graduation over just enrollment, increasing funding levels, updating institutional missions, and revising the performance measurement system to better align with individual college goals, with the new funding formula set to take effect for the 2016-2017 school year.