Gov. Janet Napolitano said Wednesday she supports the idea of tying new funding for the state’s three universities to how successful they are at getting students to graduate.
Napolitano gave an endorsement of sorts to the proposal by University of Arizona President Peter Likins to link state aid to the schools to the number of students who actually get their degrees.
The idea will be considered today when the Board of Regents meets at Arizona State University.
Now each school is supposed to be funded largely according to a formula: For each 22 new students enrolled, the state will fund one faculty member and the associated support staff.
Under the proposal, for each additional student who gets a bachelor’s degree, the university would get an extra $1,000 in the following year’s budget.
An extra master’s degree would earn $1,500, with $2,000 for a doctoral degree.
It also would provide bonuses for degrees in certain critical areas including education, engineering and nursing.
If t he formula were already in place, regents estimate that Arizona State University would have picked up another $829,500.
