Projects

• State funding models and strategies.
• Performance funding and metrics.
• Financial sustainability.
• Demographic changes.

NCHEMS addressed many challenges that states encounter when considering new funding strategies. One especially interesting challenge was integrating post-graduation employment outcomes into a performance funding model. To respond to stakeholders’ desires to include workforce outcomes into a new formula, NCHEMS engaged Mississippi’s State Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) administrative office to evaluate data capabilities and options. Using the data provided by the SLDS office, NCHEMS calculated and proposed the use of two postgraduate earnings metrics focused on rewarding institutions for improvement in:

• Increases in the median earnings one year after graduation for graduates living in Mississippi.
• Increases in the total number of graduates working in Mississippi, or attending postsecondary education a year out of college in or out of the state.

In the future, representatives in Mississippi’s SLDS office plan to investigate options for including earning data on graduates who work outside of the state. However, using out-of-state earnings data introduces new challenges, such as adjusting for cost-of-living differences and determining whether institutions should be recognized for their students’ success in out-of-state labor markets.

NCHEMS completed work on this project in multiple stages. These stages included a landscape analysis, comprehensive stakeholder engagement, model review, model redesign, and the development of a final recommendations report on model implementation and future funding approaches. During each stage of the project, NCHEMS consulted with IHL staff and reported updates to the IHL Board of Trustees.

To start the process, NCHEMS performed a landscape analysis of Mississippi’s IHL system. The data used in our analysis ranged from national to state-level sources, though NCHEMS mainly focused on state and institutional-level data vetted by the institutions and IHL. NCHEMS also engaged in extensive stakeholder outreach throughout the process, conducting interviews and in-person engagement during our tour of all eight IHL institutions. Overall, the major stakeholder groups we consulted included:

• IHL Trustees.
• State legislators.
• Institutional leaders.
• Students.
• Faculty.
• Staff.
• State workforce development leaders.

From our engagement process, we learned that all IHL institutions play a significant role in Mississippi, and that many students attend these institutions because of their proximity, programs, reputation, and regional significance. Drawing on the feedback from the engagement process, NCHEMS developed a goal statement that lays the groundwork for the future adoption of a new funding allocation framework that will work for all institutions in the state. NCHEMS then worked closely with IHL to develop a new model that included an updated performance component, with metrics focused on student outcomes and workforce development. Production of new workforce metrics required collaborations with external workforce and education data agencies for labor market and enrollment data that could be used to track graduate earnings. NCHEMS also introduced an innovative approach to performance funding by including a mechanism for Mississippi to meet foundational funding needs alongside performance incentives. This new approach allows a state to simultaneously prioritize performance funding while the state addresses historical funding gaps.

In June of 2026, the IHL Board of Trustees received a report that included a landscape review of their system, detailed student feedback on college decisions and experiences, a goal statement detailing stakeholders’ preferences for a funding model, an innovative funding approach that recognizes institutional funding needs with a new performance component, and recommendations on how IHL institutions can adopt this new model along with options to support in the future. At the June 18^th Board meeting, the Board of Trustees adopted the proposed framework.

• IHL Board of Trustees Accepts Framework of Performance Funding Formula

• Funding Mississippi’s Future: A Performance-Based Funding Framework for the Institutions of Higher Learning – Final Report