Performance funding for public higher education has become a popular topic in state capitols in the 1990s. The time seemed right for tying resources to results. Performance funding represents the most recent step in the search for external accountability and improved performance that started with outcomes assessment and performance reporting. The chapters in this volume examine the conflicts and issues raised by performance funding as well as the similarities and differences in state programs. They reflect the information gathered and lessons learned from a national study of performance funding supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts. This is the 97th issue of the quarterly journal New Directions for Institutional Research.