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Foreword

Over the next few years, The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education will conduct a series of in-depth case studies on higher education in several states. The purpose of these reports is to inform and enrich discussions about higher education -- and thereby to help state policymakers establish appropriate directions for the future of higher education. South Dakota is the first state to be examined in this series. The value of state-based case studies was underscored by the work of The California Higher Education Policy Center, which published studies on the governance and finance of higher education in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, and Texas.

The new series of case studies will complement another major project of the National Center: the publication, in the fall of 2000, of the first state-by-state report card of higher education performance. While the report card will offer an overview of state performance, the case studies will provide researchers and analysts with a rich and detailed understanding of how policy relates to state performance. The studies also will allow the National Center to highlight promising policy options, while recognizing the limitations of policy and the important role of state context in shaping policy.

Research for the South Dakota case study was funded, in part, with a grant from the Ford Foundation. The report was written by Mario Martinez, Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Management and Development at New Mexico State University. In addition to Martinez, researchers included Kathy Reeves Bracco, Senior Policy Analyst at the National Center, and Joni Finney, Vice President of the National Center. Reviewers included Patrick Callan, President of the National Center, Dennis Jones, President of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS), and Tad Perry, Executive Director of the South Dakota Board of Regents. Thad Nodine edited the final report.

The National Center invites comments on this report -- as well as on all of its publications.

Joni Finney
Vice President
The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education

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© 1999 The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education