Center Publishes In-depth Report on Higher Education.

• Position: Brief Article

Scrutinizing the key trends in higher education, the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research says state legislatures are beginning a second wave of changes in how public universities and community colleges are governed, as well as putting in place new accountability requirements.

These observations and more are contained in the center's new, 236-page report, "Governance and Coordination of Public Higher Education in All 50 States," which takes an in-depth look at state colleges across the nation.

Eleven states have implemented new accountability measures. And governors and legislators are linking money for the schools to state goals they deem important.

In a third development, colleges have been granted funds at a rate significantly above inflation (nine states included double-digit percentage increases for higher education in fiscal year 2000), but the demographics that are emerging--an enrollment boom over the next decade--threaten to dilute the financial commitment states will make to their colleges. The U.S. Department of...