Panel endorses change to Arkansas higher education funding

LITTLE ROCK — An Arkansas House panel has endorsed a plan to link public college and university funding to performance goals such as the number of students who complete their degrees.

The House Education Committee on Tuesday advanced legislation requiring the state to adopt a "performance-based" model for funding higher education rather than basing the money on enrollment. Gov. Asa Hutchinson has said he'll call for increasing higher education funding $10 million in 2018 if lawmakers approve the plan.

The state's colleges and universities received about $733 million in the state's current $5.3 billion budget, and that funding would not change in the fiscal year that begins July 1 under the governor's proposed budget.

The bill now heads to the House for a vote.

Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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