Research Spotlight

Building a better Alabama, Deep South, and Nation

The Education Policy Center is the oldest center or institute at The University of Alabama, established in 1924. Through its ongoing research and programs, it seeks to assist the College of Education in fulfilling its mission to improve the quality of life for all Alabamians through expanding access and success, strengthening equity, and advancing economic and community development.

Journal of Education Finance, Winter 2023 Edition

For over three decades the Journal of Education Finance has been recognized as one of the leading journals in the field of the financing of public schools. Each issue brings original research and analysis on issues such as educational fiscal reform, judicial intervention in finance, adequacy and equity of public school funding, school/social agency linkages, taxation, factors affecting employment and salaries, and the economics of human capital development.

This special edition of the journal of education finance, authored by EPC Staff and Fellows, looks at problems plaguing higher ed like inadequate/disproportionate funding streams and miscommunication and perceptions among state higher ed leaders.

Find Volume 48, Number 3, Winter 2023 edition here.

Educating the Top 100 Percent

Educating the Top 100 Percent assesses the decline of higher education funding and offers ambitious policy recommendations to restore the possibility of accessible, affordable education for all.

Stephen G. Katsinas, Nathaniel J. Bray, and Martha J. Kanter probe the complex interplay of federal, state, and local policies and illustrate how government actions have, over time, contributed to the long-term slide of US educational attainment. Declining federal and state funding of public higher education has forced institutions to revise their financial models, passing costs directly through to students, to the detriment of prospective students—and the nation. Experts in education policy, the authors point out how the unintended consequences of today’s funding model deny an ever-increasing portion of the population important educational and professional opportunities.

Educating the Top 100 Percent demonstrates how stable, sustainable funding policies can scaffold a better public higher education system for all.

Find Educating the Top 100 Percent available for purchase here.