Track: Graduate Student Paper Competition

Abstract

This study conducted a systematic review of the literature between 2000 and 2021 on the impacts of state budget cuts on public higher education institutions in the US. The inclusion criteria containing search terms ‘State Budget cuts’, ‘Public Higher Education’, or ‘State Appropriations’ in the titles, keywords, or abstracts in three databases, EBSCO, JSTOR, and Google Scholar, in the English language resulted in 1692 articles, N = 1692. Studies prior to 2000 were excluded, making N = 884. Considering studies that have either state appropriations or state financial aid as one of the independent variables resulted in the exclusion of 687 studies, N = 197. A skim-reading of the abstract and main body of the papers to consider experimental or quasi-experimental studies only resulted in the exclusion of 81 papers, N=116. Later, a critical appraisal tool was developed with a set of 10 questions to identify reliable studies that could answer the research questions. This excluded 99 papers, making N=17. Finally, an intrarater reliability test was conducted to demonstrate the reliability of the appraisal. This systematic review will be helpful in employing data analytics to better prepare policymakers and higher education administrators in the US for future budget uncertainties.