State partisanship and higher education

This paper uses a regression discontinuity approach to estimate the causal effect of a governor’s party affiliation on higher education in the U.S. The findings indicate that when a Democrat wins a close race for governor, there is an increase in state revenues appropriated to associate’s-degree-granting colleges. There is also some evidence that minority-serving institutions receive additional state funds when a Democratic governor is elected. There is little evidence, however, that state partisanship affects other types of outcomes (e.g. enrollment).