Dive Brief:
- A new report from the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association shows an overall increase in spending on higher education at the state and local level in 2014.
- The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that, as a nation, states spent 5.7% more on higher education than in 2013, though 13 states did not increase their spending.
- For the first time in several years, the reliance on tuition dollars at public colleges dropped slightly, from 47.7% to 47.1%, but the Chronicle notes that students today are still responsible for a significantly greater share of higher education costs than they were decades ago.
Dive Insight:
The overall increase in 2014 built on a trend from 2013 that is set to continue through next year. Colleges and universities nationwide are in the middle of a recovery that began after the Great Recession forced major cuts everywhere. However, the generalities hide the strain that many colleges and universities are still under and will continue to feel in the upcoming fiscal year. Proposed state budgets in Louisiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Arizona, and Kansas are serious and could be destabilizing if approved by lawmakers in the next couple months.