A recent study released by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that US News and World Report rankings affect the funding of public universities.

The study, conducted by Ginger Zhe Jin, assistant professor of economics at the University of Maryland, and Alex Whalley, assistant professor of economics at the University of California at Merced, contends that there is a relation between ranking and funding.

Whalley and Jin found schools that were included in the rankings, after not being included in previous years, experienced an increase in funding, what Whalley called the “political effect of information.” Whalley said part of this may be because consumers and the public generate excitement about an institution due to these reports.

“What we found is that being in the rankings increases funding,” he said.

However, the study is just one part of the rankings picture, he said.

There is yet to be a study correlating the ranking of a school in the US News report and an increase in funding for schools that have regularly been included in the report, such as the University.

The University is currently ranked 41 among all colleges nationally and 10 among public institutions, according to the University Public Affairs office.

In addition, fiscal year 2007 marked the first time in five years that the University received an increase in funding from the state, according to Inside Illinois.

However, there is not an easy correlation between these facts, said Randy Kangas, director of University planning and budgeting.

“One of the problems is that different institutions are structured very differently,” Kangas said.

He cited Michigan and Purdue as examples of peer that are basically stand-alone institutions, whereas the University of Illinois is, in reality, three – Chicago, Springfield and Urbana.

The state of Illinois has three times the financial aid funding of Michigan, which is also a notable difference, he added.

At the University, the collection of funding and the quality of students does not have a direct relation.

The way that UIUC receives funding comes from a variety of streams, including direct appropriations, Kangas said.

Those appropriations have varied over the past five years.

In 2002, the University’s system experienced a high-water mark in funding, with $803.6 million from the state distributed between the three campuses.

The three years following produced an overall drop of $118 million in funding.

Those three years were stable, and there was a small increase in 2007.

Recently, Governor Blagojevich proposed a $13.3 million increase for fiscal year 2008, a 1.9 percent increase.

“There have been a number of studies which show quality is related to funding,” Kangas said.