The majority of U.S. states have enacted performance-based funding (PBF) policies that tie a portion of state funds for public colleges and universities to student outcome metrics, such as retention and degree completion. A growing body of evidence, however, demonstrates that PBF policies have had little impact on degree production but have led to a number of unintended consequences, including restricted access among underserved students. Our findings do not indicate widespread decreases in college access among underserved students with the implementation of either low- or high-dosage PBF systems. However, at the most selective institutions, we find some evidence of decreases in enrollment among racially minoritized and low-income students with the adoption of low-dosage PBF systems. Across institutional types, our findings indicate the presence of equity metrics are not enough to boost enrollment among the subpopulations they target except for racially minoritized students and only at the least-selective colleges.
