Source: Forbes
The 50 states appropriated a total of $91.5 billion to support their public universities and financial aid programs in Fiscal Year 2018-19. That’s a 3.7% increase over 2017-18 and an 18.2% increase over Fiscal Year 2013-14, according to Grapevine, the annual report of state higher education spending…This year’s increase continues a five-year trend of annual increases and is more than twice as large as last year’s uptick of 1.6%. While in general, the figures come as good news, reflecting the continuing recovery of state revenues, they mask considerable variation in support for higher education across the states. For example: The five largest year-over-year increases were in: Colorado (12%), Utah (8.6%), Hawaii (8.5%), Washington (6.8%) and California (6.6%). Five states decreased their appropriation from 2017-18 levels: South Carolina (-3.7%), Kentucky (-2.4%), Minnesota (-1.4%), Ohio (-.1%) and Alaska (-.1%).