Joni Finney Practice Professor of Education

Education
1978: B.A. Education, Westminster College
1980: M.A. Education, Bowling Green State University
1990: Ph.D. Higher Education, Pennsylvania State University

Areas of Expertise
The public finance of higher education
Statewide governance in higher education
Access and completion in higher education
Accountability in higher education

Professional Biography
Dr. Finney has worked with state leaders to improve the public policies that govern higher education for 20 years. She was vice president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education for the past ten years. Prior to that Dr. Finney was with the California Higher Education Policy Center and the Education Commission of the States.

Dr. Finney developed and directed the nation’s first biennial state-by-state report card for higher education, Measuring Up. She has worked with governors and legislators and has testified before congressional committees on higher education policy. Dr. Finney co-authored Public and Private Finance of Higher Education: Shaping Public Policy for the Future and Designing State Higher Education Systems for a New Century. She is currently co-authoring a forthcoming book, Financing Higher Education in an Era of Global Challenge,to be published in early 2008. Dr. Finney has written articles and opinion pieces for AGB Reports (American Governing Boards), The Chronicle of Higher Education, State Government News, Spectrum (The Council of State Governments), Change: The Magazine for Higher Learning, and Education Week.

Selected Publications
Finney, Joni (with Patrick Callan, Peter Ewell and Dennis Jones), Good Policy, Good Practice -- Improving Outcomes and Reducing Costs in Higher Education. (San Jose: The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, June 2007).

Callan, M., Finney, J., Kirst, M., Usdan, M., and Venezia, A. Claiming Common Ground: State Policymaking for Improving College Readiness and Success  (San Jose: The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, March 2006).

Atwell, R., Callan, P., Finney, J., Jones, D., McGuinness, Jr., A., Mortimer, K.,  and Wellman, J. “State Capacity for Higher Education Policy.” In National CrossTalk  (San Jose: The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, July 2005).

Finney, J., and Callan, P. “State-by-State Report Cards: Public Purposes and Accountability for a New Century.” In  Achieving Accountability in Higher Education: Balancing Public, Academic, and Market Demands, ed. Joseph C. Burke & Associates  (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2005).

Venezia, A., Callan, P., Finney, J., Kirst, M., and Usdan, M. The Governance Divide: A Report on a Four-State Study on Improving College Readiness and Success  (San Jose: The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, September 2005).

Finney, J. and Kelly, P.  “Affordability: Obtaining and Making Sense of Information About How Students, Families, and States Pay for Higher Education.” In Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning July/August 2004.

Callan, P. and Finney, J.  Multiple Pathways and State Policy: Toward Education and TrainingBeyondHigh School  (Boston, MA:  Jobs for the Future, June 2003). 

Callan, P. and Finney, J. “Assessing Educational Capital: An Imperative for Policy.” In Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, July/August 2002. 

Callan, M., Doyle, W., and Finney, J. “Evaluating State Higher Education Performance: Measuring Up 2000.” In Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, March/April 2001.

Finney, J., “Enough of Trickle-Down: It’s Time for a Flood of Aid for Needy Students.” In The Chronicle of Higher Education  (Washington, DC May 5, 2000).

Callan, P. and Finney, J.  “Higher Education’s Changing Contours: The Policy Implications of an Emerging System.” In Postbaccalaureate Futures: New Markets, Resources, Credentials. Kay J. Kohl and Jules B. LaPidus, eds.  (Phoenix:  American Council on Education/Oryx Press, 2000).

Finney, Joni (with Thad Nodine),  “State Shortfalls Projected Despite Current Fiscal Prosperity: Higher Education Budgets Likely to Feel the Squeeze,” In State Government News, (Lexington, Kentucky:  The Council of State Governments, January 2000).

Finney, Joni (with Kathy Reeves Bracco, Richard C. Richardson, Jr. and Patrick M. Callan),  “Policy Environments and System Design: Understanding State Governance Structures,” In The Review of Higher Education, 23, no.1 (fall 1999), pp.23-44.

Finney, Joni  (with Kristin Conklin), “State Policy Response to the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997,” In Financing a College Education: How It Works, How It’s Changing, ed. by Jacqueline E. King  (Phoenix:    ACE/Oryx Press, 1999).

Finney, Joni  (with Richard C. Richardson, Jr. Kathy Reeves Bracco, and Patrick Callan), DesigningState Higher Education Systems for a New Century. (Phoenix:ACE/Oryx Press, 1999).

Finney, Joni E. (with Patrick M. Callan), Eds.  Public and Private Financing of Higher Education: Shaping Public Policy for the Future. (Phoenix: ACE/Oryx Press, 1997).

Finney, Joni.  A Case Study Analysis on Higher Education Governance: Florida,  (San Jose: The California Higher Education Policy Center, June 1997).

Finney, Joni (with Frank Bowen, Kathy Reeves Bracco, Patrick Callan, Richard Richardson and William Trombley), and State Structures for the Governance of Higher Education: A Comparative Study, (San Jose:  The California Higher Education Policy Center, June 1997).

Finney, Joni.  “Financing Higher Education in California: A Case Study”.  A paper presented at the Annual Research Conference of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Chicago, Illinois.  October 27, 1994.

Finney, Joni. “The Role of the Community Colleges in California Higher Education: Looking Forward" in Transfer: Preparing for the Year 2000.  A Report for the 1994 California Community Colleges Transfer Symposium, (Sacramento, CA: Chancellor's Office, June 1994).

Finney, Joni.  "Tough Choices About Higher Education" In Spectrum, The Journal of State Government, Lexington, Kentucky: The Council of State Governments, 67, no. 2 (Spring 1994).

Finney, Joni (with Patrick M. Callan), By Design or Default  (San Jose: The California Higher Education Policy Center, June 1993).

Finney, Joni  "A Degree of Success" In State Government News, 34, no. 7 (June, 1991), (Lexington, Kentucky:  The Council of State Governments).

Finney, Joni  (with Patrick M. Callan),  "State Policies and Minority Participation in Higher Education" In Peabody Journal of Education, 66, no. 1, (Fall 1990).

Finney, Joni  (with Peter Ewell and Charles Lenth),  "Filling in the Mosaic:  The Emerging Pattern of State-Based Assessment," In AAHE Bulletin (Washington, DC: March 1989).