Alabama legislators are exploring alternative methods of funding higher education months after making changes to the way K-12 funding is distributed.
The Joint House and Senate Education Committee met Thursday to learn more about a model that partly funds colleges and universities based on predetermined metrics decided by the Legislature in collaboration with institutions of higher education.
“I have heard for years from members, ‘We give the higher education colleges and universities all this money, and we get no say on the outputs or what happens, or what they are doing for our state,'” Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, said during the meeting. “Sometimes that may be a little bit of a knee-jerk comment, but I hear time and time again. This is a way for the Legislature, working with the institutions, to better fit the needs of our state as defined by those elected here in the Legislature to help move our state down the road in a positive way.”
Lawmakers are examining whether the outcomes-based funding model could help address issues affecting workforce and career readiness issues, particularly the state’s decades-old struggles with workforce participation. Alabama’s rate is lower than the country’s and has been so since 1976. Some of the possible reasons include child care and transportation.
“We need to do things that are going to help increase that workforce,” said Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, who spoke with reporters after the meeting. “We have too many students graduating college who are leaving the state. We have a migration of students. We attract a lot of in-state students, but they go back and leave the state.”