Book excerpt: This book examines how public policy influences institutional performance. Public institutions of higher learning are called upon by state governments to provide educational access and opportunity for students. Paradoxically, the education policies enacted by state legislatures are often complex and costly to implement, which can detract from that mission. The authors evaluate the higher education systems of five states to explain how these policies are developed and how they affect the performance of individual institutions. They identify the rules that are central to the coherence and performance of higher education systems that administrators apply to meet organizational goals within the constraints of changing, sometimes conflicting federal and state policies.