Florida drops 'bottom three' exception for higher ed performance funding

All public universities in Florida will now be eligible for performance-based funding, after the state's Board of Governors last week approved a plan to stop a practice denying such funds to the three lowest-performing public colleges.The board determined the model no longer served its purpose and that colleges' scores had been improving, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. The decision helps smaller institutions like Florida A&M University, which has seen year-over-year improvement in student outcomes.However, colleges must still receive a score of 51 points or more in order to receive institutional investment.More than two-thirds of states currently or plan to tie some form of higher education funding to student outcomes like degree completion and graduation rates, according to New America, a nonprofit public policy think tank. The growth of performance-based funding is in part an outcome of lower and more targeted state investment in higher education. California is among the latest with a plan finalized this past summer to incorporate performance-based funding as a share of state dollars for the California Community Colleges system.