Budgetory Changes in Education

Budgetory Changes in Education

Introduction

Greater emphasis has been placed on improving the education system by the US government that has led to increasing interest in the equity of education systems. Public education system in the United States focuses on providing education to all people irrespective of their gender, race, doctrine, disability, or family class. US education system has been divided into multilevel structure. U.S. education system is divided into Kindergarten school, Elementary school, Junior High school, Major High School, Specialized training school, College and University. The elementary school is up to 6th grade then the high-school ends after 12th year. After High school, students can choose from Training School (specialized courses), College-Junior College or University. Lack of access and quality in higher education within the nation can be very costly, both in terms of hard earned foreign currency and talent of the youth. Empowerment of youth by offering the latest and best quality of higher education is the prime responsibility of universities and schools of higher learning. Policies for each level of education differ greatly in their extent tot effectively serve the need of education. This paper explores the changes in the U.S.

Key focus areas for higher education according to a recently done study by US Education department include:

Innovation In financing

Use of ICT

Research grants and research outputs

Skill development

Regulatory framework

Developing Industry partnerships

Vocational education and training (VET)

Accreditation

External Factors and State and Federal Funding Decline for Education Institutes

According to the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), state governments provide an average of 37.0% of all college funds. Financial assistance, which subsidizes tuition fees and other expenses, comes in the form of grants, loans and tax credits (see Industry Assistance). Generally, state government funding is subject to economic conditions. In 2005 and 2006, most states earned higher revenue, so junior colleges received more funding in those years. However, toward the end of 2007, the economy slowed, leaving state governments with smaller budgets to fund education. This factor has since caused many junior colleges to rely on more part-time staff and reduce full-time professor headcount. Furthermore, many schools have reduced course offerings to make budgetary ends meet.

Federal funds make up about 16.0% of public colleges' revenue. Unfortunately for industry operators, the large federal government's budget deficit has caused a decline in funding during much of the past five years. However, a renewed sense of scholastic importance has recently boosted some funding measures. In 2009, state funding for community colleges was boosted by the $53.6 billion State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, which was included as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. At the post-secondary level, funding could be used for education and general expenditures and facilities modernization. In July 2009, the American Graduation Initiative was announced, aiming to generate an additional five million community college graduates by 2020. However, funding under the bill was cut from $12.0 billion to $2.0 billion in March 2010, due to the passing of the healthcare bill.

The Obama administration has also made an effort to boost ...