NSHE Spending Growth

Posted by Webmaster on November 11, 2008 under Higher Ed

Here is how much NSHE has been spending the past few years:

Over the seven years above, higher ed spending increased from $496 million to $912 million, an 84% increase. Nevada taxpayers’ contribution (the General Fund) was even higher, an increase of over 95% since FY 2002.

Millenium Scholarship

Posted by Webmaster on November 11, 2008 under Millenium Scholarship

University Regents are elected to set policy for Nevada’s system of higher education and hire the chancellor. Yesterday, they heard that for the first time in a long time, the amount of financial assistance given to students was lower than the year before.

Some people knew this was coming as early as the year 2001. By then, Governor Guinn had seen the first numbers on his Millennium Scholarship program. It was pretty easy, then, to extrapolate that first year’s results out into the future and reach the conclusion that the program at capacity would spend about twice its earmarked revenue.

Because it was offered to recent high school graduates, it ramped up slowly, adding one new group of recent grads per year. Thus, there was plenty of advance warning that the program was not sustainable.

The decision was made by the administration to not modify the program – say, by only offering it to our best and brightest students – and instead let it go broke shortly after Governor Guinn’s 2004 re-election.

The Governor and Lieutenant Governor didn’t allow the Legislature and press to see the program’s finances until the 2005 session. That year, the legislature changed the program around to reduce the costs, as well as appropriated tens of millions in additional taxes to prop it up. Today, the Millenium pays for about half of a UNR or UNLV student’s costs, and no longer serves “to keep our best and brightest from leaving the state for their college education.”

US Tops In Higher Ed Spending

Posted by Webmaster on November 11, 2008 under Higher Ed

The United States spends more on higher education, as a percentage of gross domestic product, than any other industrialized nation. Are we getting our money’s worth?

Dentists Per Nevadan

Posted by Webmaster on November 11, 2008 under Dental School

You have to go several places to put the data together… but Nevada now ranks 23rd of 51 states in the number of dentists per capita. Advocates of endlessly expanding our University system justify hemorrhagic spending of higher taxes on our dental school on the grounds that we rank “at the bottom of the list” of dentists per capita – a claim now proven false.

Here is data on the number of dentists…

Here is data on the number of people…

Here are the results…

Higher Ed report card

Posted by Webmaster on November 11, 2008 under Higher Ed

Here is “Measuring UP 2006: The National Report Card on Higher Education” from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

Full-Day Kindergarten

Posted by Webmaster on November 9, 2008 under Full-day Kindergarten

Many experts, including the Rand Institute in this recent, extensive research report, say full-day kindergarten does not improve students’ long-term learning accomplishment. Some studies claim to measure a short-term improvement, but by the time children are in high school, there is no measurable improvement in academic achievement.

But it became a political issue in the 2005 and 2007 legislative sessions. The outcome was earmarked state funding for full-day kindergarten in schools where more than half of the children were eligible for Free or Reduced Lunch (such children are labeled with the acronym FRL). Eligibility is determined by each family’s “legal” income – underground income does not count.

As the 2007 legislative session got underway, a group of off-site administrators at the Clark County School District captured headlines with their own study that showed a slight but measured improvement in second grade achievement amongst children eligible for free or reduced lunch who had full day kindergarten, versus those who hadn’t.

Because the legislature’s criteria for full-day kindergarten was the percentage of children in each school eligible for FRL, the school district had children who were eliglble and those who weren’t both in full day kindergarten in some schools, and both types of children who were not in full day kindergarten in others.

Here is the first story in the Las Vegas Review Journal about the administrator’s findings. As you can see from the correction dated six weeks later, it took quite some time to sort out the administrator’s statements. Critical analysis actually started just a few days later.

The Clark County School District answered questions with half-truths and non-answers for weeks, until they finally were forced to release the rest of their findings: full day kindergarten reduced the academic performance of children from middle and upper class homes.

Children from middle and upper class homes (defined as children who do not qualify for “free or reduced lunch”) who attended full day kindergarten performed three points worse than children who did not attend full day kindergarten.

The changes in ability measured were miniscule, and based on second grade achievement. Nearly all studies conclude there is no measurable increase in academic performance once these children are in high school. The real impact of this incident is that the Clark County School District would trumpet partial and deceiving research results.