Question of the Month for June 2011

How much are SLC member states allocating toward higher education?

As states have reeled from the Great Depression, Americans are pursuing post-secondary education at record levels.  The importance of higher education to the kinds of jobs most observers  maintain will dominate the post-recession economy is relatively clear.  States recognize the necessity of a well-trained and –educated workforce to their future competitiveness and have generally provided the means for these systems to meet current demands and future needs.  Nonetheless, the recession affected state allocations for higher education across the region, reducing state monies for this purpose from a high of nearly $4 billion in FY 2008 to only $3.6 billion in FY 2011.  The decline in real terms to state higher education systems was mitigated in large part by stimulus spending, which injected more than $3.8 billion in the region’s higher education systems and institutions.

As states pull out of the recession, there are signs of recovery in state support for higher education.  Indeed, 11 of the 15 states in the SLC have increased their support for higher education over the past five years by significant amounts, and only three have experienced declines.

State Fiscal Support for Higher Education, by State, Fiscal Years 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, and 2010-11 ^a

(click on headers to sort by column)

State / Region	FY 2006 State Support b	FY 2007 State Support b	FY 2008 State Support b	FY 2009 State Support b	FY 2010 State Support b	FY 2011 State Support b	Percent Change FY 2006 - FY 2011
Alabama	1,407,875,152	1,685,067,489	1,961,808,342	1,581,208,946	1,424,278,941	1,455,273,417	3.4%
Arkansas	752,020,512	796,303,595	879,882,230	887,321,221	882,692,213	901,799,213	19.9%
Florida	3,843,695,215	4,390,185,206	4,448,930,438	4,107,485,788	3,665,468,615	3,738,916,518	-2.7%
Georgia	2,637,670,133	2,774,268,032	2,953,507,623	3,144,002,253	2,608,182,991	2,984,188,158	13.1%
Kentucky	1,207,616,000	1,253,992,000	1,320,540,000	1,282,618,255	1,214,692,752	1,215,584,100	0.7%
Louisiana	1,285,481,337	1,459,847,337	1,707,668,337	1,706,364,806	1,303,919,738	1,213,247,863	-5.6%
Mississippi	772,365,105	879,465,904	1,045,937,317	978,760,459	1,006,477,155	932,494,907	20.7%
Missouri	926,756,453	978,771,911	1,021,705,137	1,108,021,377	980,013,415	928,982,622	0.2%
North Carolina	3,062,511,308	3,466,352,712	3,837,233,489	3,658,785,872	3,768,537,112	4,022,438,686	31.3%
Oklahoma	890,540,061	1,033,365,199	1,098,881,179	1,078,158,766	1,077,227,530	1,015,017,746	14.0%
South Carolina	1,050,223,497	1,127,265,244	1,211,068,342	980,754,273	924,156,917	817,634,079	-22.1%
Tennessee c	1,371,036,300	1,505,273,700	1,639,550,600	1,581,260,700	1,490,255,181	1,659,586,381	21.0%
Texas	5,700,130,286	5,709,136,834	6,347,752,622	6,107,243,700	6,434,942,116	6,476,380,455	13.6%
Virginia	1,594,605,000	1,854,731,000	1,885,553,314	1,899,464,085	1,727,005,095	1,692,395,252	6.1%
West Virginia	416,660,839	455,444,801	562,253,000	520,693,910	492,834,565	492,800,710	18.3%
SLC	26,919,187,198	29,369,470,964	31,922,271,970	30,622,144,411	29,000,684,336	29,546,740,107	9.8%
United States	70,281,476,153	75,679,314,853	80,884,871,214	78,279,295,850	74,748,223,538	76,109,765,981	8.3%

Notes:
^a FY2011 figures on state support for higher education represent initial allocations and estimates reported by the states from September through December 2010 and are subject to change.
^b State monies include state tax appropriations and other state funds allocated to higher education.
^c Tennessee's 11.4% increase between FY10 and FY11 in state monies for higher education is an anomaly, reflecting the decision to apply available federal stimulus funds in FY11 to K-12 education. An equivalent amount of state funds were used for higher education. The increase in state monies for higher education between FY10 and FY11 does not reflect an increase in the overall availability of state funds for college and university support.

Source: Grapevine, Illinois State University