Mapping Higher Ed Funding and Tuition Changes

Most states have begun restoring some of the deep cuts they made to public two- and four-year colleges since the recession, but their total support remains $8.7 billion below what it was just before the recession, as we detail in our new report.  What’s more, 11 states cut funding even more in the past year.

Compared with the 2007-2008 school year, after adjusting for inflation:

• Forty-five states are spending less per student.
• Of states with fully enacted budgets, average spending is $1,525, or 17 percent, less per student.
• Average annual published tuition has risen by $2,333 nationally, or 33 percent.

In the last year, 38 states increased funding per student.  Per-student funding rose $275, or 4 percent, nationally.  Meanwhile, published tuition — the “sticker price” — at public four-year colleges and universities rose modestly in 34 states, by $254, or 2.8 percent.

Click on the map below to learn more about how higher education funding and tuition have changed in each state since 2008.