Chapter 1: The American Higher Education Landscape

We are pleased to introduce the fourth volume of Research in Education Fiscal Policy and Practice. Our book series is intended to provide a scholarly forum for interdisciplinary research on the financing of public, private, and higher education in the United States and abroad. Our goal is to disseminate high quality empirical studies, policy analyses, theoretical models, case studies, and literature reviews on contemporary issues in fiscal policy and practice. This, and every volume, is intended for a diversity of readers, including academic researchers, policy makers, and school practitioners. Our first volume, Fiscal Policy in Urban Education, addressed the continuing challenge of large, complex urban school systems to operate both equitably and efficiently. Guest edited by Faith Crampton and David Thompson, the second volume in our series, Saving America’s School Infrastructure, examined the relationship between the physical environment of schools and student achievement. The third volume, High Stakes Accountability in Education: Implications for Resources and Capacity, compiled a diversity of research studies focused on local, state, and national efforts to respond to the reauthorization of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, commonly referred to as No Child Left Behind (NCLB).