There is wide variation in higher education finance across states. This section more deeply examines trends and interstate differences for measures of enrollment and state funding (education appropriations and student financial aid).

Student Enrollment

Map 3.1

Net Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Enrollment, FY 2025

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Full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment converts student credit hours to full-time, academic year students, but excludes medical students. SHEF includes enrollment for all degree-seeking undergraduate and graduate students at public institutions. After years of steady enrollment increases since the SHEF data collection began, the number of FTE students enrolled in public institutions slowly declined, both nationally and across states, over the last decade. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, FTE enrollment declined at unprecedented rates. However, FTE enrollment in 2025 showed a 3.6% increase nationally.

Historically, enrollment has increased in each decade. Starting in 2009, enrollment increased rapidly during and immediately following the Great Recession, peaking at 11.7 million students in 2011.

After 2011, FTE enrollment declined for 11 straight years. Between 2023 and 2025, enrollment increased from 10.1 million to 10.8 million students, representing the third straight year of enrollment increases. Previous declines between 2014 and 2020 were less than 1.0% annually. In 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a year-over-year decline of 3.9% in FTE enrollment, the largest decline since the start of the SHEF dataset in 1980. FTE enrollment continued to decline in 2022 (3.4%) and remained effectively flat in 2023 (an increase of 0.02%), followed by steady increases in 2024 (3.3%) and 2025 (3.6%). As a result, FTE enrollment in public institutions in 2025 was down just 7.2% from the peak in 2011.

1. State Comparisons

Figure 3.1 shows net FTE enrollment for each state in fiscal year 2025. Table 3.1 provides additional detail on how enrollment has changed over time in each state.

  • Across states, FTE enrollment ranged from 3,240 students in Washington, D.C., and 12,748 in Alaska to nearly 1.6 million in California. Nearly one-fourth of all students attending a U.S. public institution were enrolled in either California or Texas, with both states exceeding one million FTE students.
  • FTE enrollment increased in 44 states and Washington, D.C., between 2024 and 2025. These increases ranged from 0.1% in Colorado (representing 231 FTE students) to 15.4% in Wyoming (or 3,162 FTE students).
  • Just six states experienced declines in FTE enrollment. Declines ranged from 0.01% (or 3 FTE students) in Rhode Island to 1.4% (or 1,606 FTE students) in Iowa.
  • Despite enrollment increases in 2025, enrollment has declined in 34 states and Washington, D.C., since 2015, but in only one state since the start of the SHEF dataset: FTE enrollment in Illinois has declined 20.6% since 1980.

Figure 3.1

Public Higher Education Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Enrollment by State, FY 2025


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Notes:
  1. Full-time equivalent enrollment converts student credit hours to full-time, academic year students, but excludes medical students.
  2. Fiscal year 2025 FTE enrollment is estimated for Arkansas and Washington.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association
Table 3.1

Public Higher Education Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Enrollment by State, FY 1980-2025

1980 2001 2015 2020 2024 2025 % Change Since 2024 % Change Since 2020 % Change Since 2015 % Change Since 2001 % Change Since 1980
Alabama 138,620 165,833 193,411 200,991 202,865 212,421 4.7% 5.7% 9.8% 28.1% 53.2%
Alaska 10,530 16,079 19,934 15,051 12,684 12,748 0.5% -15.3% -36.0% -20.7% 21.1%
Arizona 120,148 194,629 274,454 304,281 327,169 350,459 7.1% 15.2% 27.7% 80.1% 191.7%
Arkansas 53,130 87,337 118,416 111,155 106,724 111,230 4.2% 0.1% -6.1% 27.4% 109.4%
California 979,142 1,322,308 1,563,541 1,590,119 1,532,255 1,572,553 2.6% -1.1% 0.6% 18.9% 60.6%
Colorado 113,281 141,492 181,867 188,864 181,532 181,763 0.1% -3.8% -0.1% 28.5% 60.5%
Connecticut 58,909 60,976 87,403 81,422 76,077 79,736 4.8% -2.1% -8.8% 30.8% 35.4%
Delaware 20,664 28,944 36,742 35,571 37,240 37,497 0.7% 5.4% 2.1% 29.6% 81.5%
Florida 287,388 420,957 601,198 609,447 579,477 607,009 4.8% -0.4% 1.0% 44.2% 111.2%
Georgia 157,155 234,998 345,467 360,193 366,748 389,118 6.1% 8.0% 12.6% 65.6% 147.6%
Hawaii 30,465 31,810 39,444 34,736 32,695 33,990 4.0% -2.1% -13.8% 6.9% 11.6%
Idaho 26,647 39,495 54,102 55,155 55,835 59,017 5.7% 7.0% 9.1% 49.4% 121.5%
Illinois 342,097 323,876 351,917 302,722 272,379 271,721 -0.2% -10.2% -22.8% -16.1% -20.6%
Indiana 142,061 193,130 252,802 245,224 255,240 268,616 5.2% 9.5% 6.3% 39.1% 89.1%
Iowa 84,210 105,545 124,883 125,433 116,188 114,582 -1.4% -8.7% -8.2% 8.6% 36.1%
Kansas 87,216 100,476 137,035 129,622 121,103 125,341 3.5% -3.3% -8.5% 24.7% 43.7%
Kentucky 89,389 119,500 152,954 140,429 139,663 146,179 4.7% 4.1% -4.4% 22.3% 63.5%
Louisiana 106,686 168,121 165,329 165,145 164,921 172,710 4.7% 4.6% 4.5% 2.7% 61.9%
Maine 26,250 29,287 35,445 34,005 34,393 37,191 8.1% 9.4% 4.9% 27.0% 41.7%
Maryland 133,228 175,085 233,208 221,418 224,820 231,640 3.0% 4.6% -0.7% 32.3% 73.9%
Massachusetts 122,952 128,404 170,703 157,447 137,084 144,607 5.5% -8.2% -15.3% 12.6% 17.6%
Michigan 318,166 333,584 390,047 357,224 332,227 342,952 3.2% -4.0% -12.1% 2.8% 7.8%
Minnesota 149,418 167,238 198,328 180,442 161,710 170,243 5.3% -5.7% -14.2% 1.8% 13.9%
Mississippi 85,292 102,490 133,910 130,891 121,925 126,533 3.8% -3.3% -5.5% 23.5% 48.4%
Missouri 120,468 156,588 186,936 163,408 144,901 144,575 -0.2% -11.5% -22.7% -7.7% 20.0%
Montana 25,452 33,660 38,732 35,252 34,503 35,285 2.3% 0.1% -8.9% 4.8% 38.6%
Nebraska 56,360 65,725 78,469 73,833 72,625 74,572 2.7% 1.0% -5.0% 13.5% 32.3%
Nevada 19,367 48,107 73,583 77,763 75,954 78,973 4.0% 1.6% 7.3% 64.2% 307.8%
New Hampshire 19,415 26,506 38,398 34,695 29,891 29,879 0.0% -13.9% -22.2% 12.7% 53.9%
New Jersey 171,390 178,671 270,053 264,467 248,055 258,475 4.2% -2.3% -4.3% 44.7% 50.8%
New Mexico 48,268 66,847 96,110 70,090 73,343 74,478 1.5% 6.3% -22.5% 11.4% 54.3%
New York 418,679 449,959 566,620 525,589 456,600 467,083 2.3% -11.1% -17.6% 3.8% 11.6%
North Carolina 165,642 266,217 391,990 403,093 409,585 461,726 12.7% 14.5% 17.8% 73.4% 178.7%
North Dakota 26,735 31,922 36,801 32,660 33,418 34,777 4.1% 6.5% -5.5% 8.9% 30.1%
Ohio 291,000 337,379 393,845 385,027 341,812 343,784 0.6% -10.7% -12.7% 1.9% 18.1%
Oklahoma 96,476 121,111 136,311 126,370 121,543 127,878 5.2% 1.2% -6.2% 5.6% 32.5%
Oregon 96,946 111,006 155,725 137,801 128,457 133,750 4.1% -2.9% -14.1% 20.5% 38.0%
Pennsylvania 243,296 288,334 354,891 329,025 289,327 286,795 -0.9% -12.8% -19.2% -0.5% 17.9%
Rhode Island 23,237 25,622 32,687 32,220 29,193 29,190 0.0% -9.4% -10.7% 13.9% 25.6%
South Carolina 95,600 132,404 174,643 168,719 175,188 180,432 3.0% 6.9% 3.3% 36.3% 88.7%
South Dakota 18,623 22,064 33,938 31,962 31,182 32,548 4.4% 1.8% -4.1% 47.5% 74.8%
Tennessee 124,022 159,838 179,248 184,954 179,740 180,519 0.4% -2.4% 0.7% 12.9% 45.6%
Texas 466,900 667,534 1,010,334 1,062,059 1,044,484 1,090,797 4.4% 2.7% 8.0% 63.4% 133.6%
Utah 47,061 91,953 120,352 127,833 133,372 137,970 3.4% 7.9% 14.6% 50.0% 193.2%
Vermont 13,656 15,914 20,616 20,562 19,987 20,057 0.4% -2.5% -2.7% 26.0% 46.9%
Virginia 175,197 236,014 314,066 301,730 296,469 306,145 3.3% 1.5% -2.5% 29.7% 74.7%
Washington 163,866 204,663 242,221 228,720 199,389 202,774 1.7% -11.3% -16.3% -0.9% 23.7%
West Virginia 53,331 62,902 72,765 65,445 58,308 59,506 2.1% -9.1% -18.2% -5.4% 11.6%
Wisconsin 174,163 196,523 219,490 206,545 199,417 203,606 2.1% -1.4% -7.2% 3.6% 16.9%
Wyoming 14,048 20,198 24,042 21,653 20,487 23,649 15.4% 9.2% -1.6% 17.1% 68.3%
D.C. N/A N/A 3,723 3,176 3,211 3,240 0.9% 2.0% -13.0% N/A N/A
U.S. 6,852,242 8,709,255 11,125,406 10,888,462 10,440,184 10,819,079 3.6% -0.6% -2.8% 24.2% 57.9%
Notes:
  1. Full-time equivalent enrollment converts student credit hours to full-time, academic year students, but excludes medical students.
  2. The U.S. calculation does not include the District of Columbia. Data for the District of Columbia are not available prior to 2011.
  3. The years 1980 and 2001 are included in this table because they are the starting points of the historical SHEF dataset and modern SHEF data collection, respectively.
  4. Fiscal year 2025 FTE enrollment is estimated for Arkansas and Washington.
  5. Texas updated the methodology to capture FTE enrollment starting in 2017. Years prior to 2017 do not reflect this new methodology, which may affect some year-to-year comparisons.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association

2. Sector Comparisons

Table 3.1A presents data on net FTE enrollment for the public two-year and four-year sectors separately. In 2025, there were 4.17 million FTE students enrolled at two-year institutions. Two-year FTE enrollment across states ranged from 2,540 in Vermont to 888,992 in California. Twenty-one percent of students attending a U.S. public two-year institution in 2025 attended a California community college.

  • From 2024 to 2025, two-year FTE enrollment increased in 40 states. Enrollment increases ranged from 2.6% (or 4,176 FTE students) in New York to 28.5% (or 3,140 FTE students) in Wyoming.
  • Two-year FTE enrollment declined in just nine states from 2024 to 2025. Enrollment declines ranged from 0.2% (or 177 FTE students) in Illinois to 6.2% (or 3,176 FTE students) in Iowa.

There were 6.65 million FTE students enrolled at four-year institutions in 2025, about 1.6 times the number of two-year students. Enrollment at four-year institutions ranged from 3,240 in Washington, D.C., and 9,474 in Wyoming to 683,561 in California. Notably, California represented one-tenth of all four-year public FTE enrollment in 2025.

  • From 2024 to 2025, four-year FTE enrollment increased in 45 states and Washington, D.C., enrollment increases ranged from 0.1% (or 39 FTE students) in West Virginia to 12.4% (or 27,412 FTE students) in Arizona.
  • Four-year FTE enrollment declined in just five states between 2024 and 2025. Enrollment declines ranged from 0.3% (or 481 FTE students) in Illinois to 1.9% (or 4,410 FTE students) in Pennsylvania.

In 2025, 36 states had year-over-year FTE enrollment increases in both sectors, while one (Illinois) had enrollment declines across both sectors. The two-year sector generally had larger enrollment increases across states — in 37 states, enrollment increased by a larger percentage in the two-year sector than in the four-year sector from 2024 to 2025.

Figure 3.1A shows that states enroll different proportions of students across sectors. Overall, 38.5% of public FTE students attended a two-year institution in the United States — a decline of 1.3 percentage points from 2019. The portion of FTE students enrolled at two-year institutions in 2025 varied from 12.7% in Vermont to 60.0% in Wyoming. Only California, North Carolina, Washington, and Wyoming had more FTE students enrolled in the two-year sector than in the four-year sector.

Figure 3.1A

Percentage of Public Higher Education Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Enrollment at Two-Year Institutions by State, FY 2025


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Notes:
  1. Full-time equivalent enrollment converts student credit hours to full-time, academic year students, but excludes medical students.
  2. Alaska and the District of Columbia are excluded from this figure because they do not have any public two-year institutions.
  3. Sector is determined at the institution level using the Carnegie Basic Classification (https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/). Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges and "less-than-two-year" degree-granting institutions not assigned a Carnegie classification are considered two-year institutions.
  4. Fiscal year 2025 sector-level FTE enrollment is estimated for Arkansas and four-year FTE enrollment is estimated for Washington.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association

enrollmentMeasurement Note: Sector Enrollment Mix

States vary in the proportion of enrollment attending two-year and four-year public institutions. In addition, as the following sections will show, the two-year and four-year public sectors have very different revenue structures and total revenues. These varying enrollment proportions and different revenue structures make state-level data more difficult to compare. The Enrollment Mix Index (EMI) adjustment used throughout the state-level metrics in this report attempts to correct for this variation in FTE enrollment. Sector-level data are not adjusted for EMI (and do not need to be).

Table 3.1A

Public Higher Education Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Enrollment by Sector and State, FY 2019-2025

Two-Year FTE Four-Year FTE
2019 2024 2025 % Change Since 2024 % Change Since 2019 2019 2024 2025 % Change Since 2024 % Change Since 2019
Alabama 59,288 58,462 62,883 7.6% 6.1% 143,485 144,403 149,538 3.6% 4.2%
Alaska 0 0 0 N/A N/A 16,721 12,684 12,748 0.5% -23.8%
Arizona 110,557 105,282 101,160 -3.9% -8.5% 182,299 221,887 249,299 12.4% 36.8%
Arkansas 30,934 27,806 29,543 6.2% -4.5% 82,311 78,918 81,687 3.5% -0.8%
California 918,444 863,782 888,992 2.9% -3.2% 672,687 668,473 683,561 2.3% 1.6%
Colorado 56,000 58,316 57,521 -1.4% 2.7% 127,744 123,216 124,242 0.8% -2.7%
Connecticut 26,419 21,708 22,651 4.3% -14.3% 57,374 54,369 57,085 5.0% -0.5%
Delaware 8,886 7,855 8,286 5.5% -6.8% 27,524 29,385 29,211 -0.6% 6.1%
Florida 315,763 280,428 300,433 7.1% -4.9% 293,179 299,049 306,576 2.5% 4.6%
Georgia 86,540 82,553 89,344 8.2% 3.2% 269,808 284,195 299,774 5.5% 11.1%
Hawaii 14,820 11,971 12,499 4.4% -15.7% 20,434 20,723 21,490 3.7% 5.2%
Idaho 14,811 15,284 16,873 10.4% 13.9% 39,610 40,551 42,144 3.9% 6.4%
Illinois 140,713 112,774 112,597 -0.2% -20.0% 166,254 159,605 159,124 -0.3% -4.3%
Indiana 63,913 70,988 77,306 8.9% 21.0% 182,388 184,251 191,310 3.8% 4.9%
Iowa 57,239 51,282 48,106 -6.2% -16.0% 72,148 64,906 66,477 2.4% -7.9%
Kansas 52,895 46,909 49,216 4.9% -7.0% 79,358 74,194 76,126 2.6% -4.1%
Kentucky 43,446 42,736 45,903 7.4% 5.7% 98,557 96,927 100,276 3.5% 1.7%
Louisiana 43,091 41,134 43,675 6.2% 1.4% 120,841 123,787 129,035 4.2% 6.8%
Maine 9,773 11,276 12,503 10.9% 27.9% 24,174 23,117 24,688 6.8% 2.1%
Maryland 89,990 77,336 81,328 5.2% -9.6% 139,253 147,484 150,312 1.9% 7.9%
Massachusetts 49,799 42,767 48,979 14.5% -1.6% 110,528 94,318 95,628 1.4% -13.5%
Michigan 116,340 100,496 108,201 7.7% -7.0% 249,978 231,731 234,751 1.3% -6.1%
Minnesota 76,219 66,701 72,028 8.0% -5.5% 108,148 95,009 98,215 3.4% -9.2%
Mississippi 61,799 54,427 56,240 3.3% -9.0% 71,200 67,498 70,293 4.1% -1.3%
Missouri 59,765 42,855 44,480 3.8% -25.6% 122,734 102,046 100,096 -1.9% -18.4%
Montana 6,678 6,434 6,662 3.5% -0.2% 29,697 28,069 28,623 2.0% -3.6%
Nebraska 26,142 24,394 26,139 7.2% 0.0% 49,798 48,231 48,433 0.4% -2.7%
Nevada 29,026 27,538 28,722 4.3% -1.0% 47,024 48,416 50,251 3.8% 6.9%
New Hampshire 9,853 7,348 7,558 2.9% -23.3% 26,500 22,543 22,321 -1.0% -15.8%
New Jersey 99,904 86,990 90,237 3.7% -9.7% 165,182 161,065 168,238 4.5% 1.9%
New Mexico 37,798 31,403 32,317 2.9% -14.5% 39,242 41,940 42,161 0.5% 7.4%
New York 210,891 159,144 163,320 2.6% -22.6% 327,088 297,457 303,763 2.1% -7.1%
North Carolina 179,659 192,388 239,437 24.5% 33.3% 214,263 217,197 222,289 2.3% 3.7%
North Dakota 7,028 7,384 7,920 7.3% 12.7% 26,753 26,033 26,857 3.2% 0.4%
Ohio 99,164 91,210 87,288 -4.3% -12.0% 287,287 250,602 256,497 2.4% -10.7%
Oklahoma 40,585 35,703 37,564 5.2% -7.4% 88,260 85,840 90,314 5.2% 2.3%
Oregon 60,770 48,624 51,842 6.6% -14.7% 83,519 79,833 81,908 2.6% -1.9%
Pennsylvania 79,979 60,522 62,400 3.1% -22.0% 251,685 228,805 224,395 -1.9% -10.8%
Rhode Island 9,333 7,679 7,570 -1.4% -18.9% 22,645 21,514 21,620 0.5% -4.5%
South Carolina 57,624 59,571 62,059 4.2% 7.7% 109,116 115,616 118,374 2.4% 8.5%
South Dakota 5,810 5,792 6,083 5.0% 4.7% 27,006 25,390 26,465 4.2% -2.0%
Tennessee 72,783 63,526 63,374 -0.2% -12.9% 111,635 116,213 117,145 0.8% 4.9%
Texas 477,746 453,125 481,653 6.3% 0.8% 571,287 591,359 609,144 3.0% 6.6%
Utah 25,832 26,017 26,909 3.4% 4.2% 102,270 107,356 111,061 3.5% 8.6%
Vermont 2,652 2,619 2,540 -3.0% -4.2% 17,806 17,368 17,517 0.9% -1.6%
Virginia 100,141 90,626 94,910 4.7% -5.2% 201,878 205,844 211,235 2.6% 4.6%
Washington 123,981 103,022 101,839 -1.1% -17.9% 112,000 96,367 100,935 4.7% -9.9%
West Virginia 11,076 9,622 10,782 12.1% -2.7% 55,501 48,686 48,725 0.1% -12.2%
Wisconsin 72,054 61,924 64,451 4.1% -10.6% 137,600 137,493 139,155 1.2% 1.1%
Wyoming 11,214 11,035 14,175 28.5% 26.4% 10,980 9,452 9,474 0.2% -13.7%
D.C. 0 0 0 N/A N/A 3,518 3,211 3,240 0.9% -7.9%
U.S. 4,365,167 3,968,768 4,168,498 5.0% -4.5% 6,594,759 6,471,415 6,650,586 2.8% 0.8%
Notes:
  1. Full-time equivalent enrollment converts student credit hours to full-time, academic year students, but excludes medical students.
  2. The U.S. calculation does not include the District of Columbia. There are no two-year public institutions in Alaska or the District of Columbia.
  3. The year 2019 is included in this table because it is the starting point of the sector-level SHEF dataset.
  4. Sector is determined at the institution level using the Carnegie Basic Classification (https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/). Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges and "less-than-two-year" degree-granting institutions not assigned a Carnegie classification are considered two-year institutions.
  5. Fiscal year 2025 sector-level FTE enrollment is estimated for Arkansas and four-year FTE enrollment is estimated for Washington.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association

Education Appropriations

Map 3.2

Education Appropriations per FTE, FY 2025

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Education appropriations measure state and local support available for public higher education operating expenses and exclude appropriations for independent institutions, financial aid for students attending independent or out-of-state institutions, research, hospitals, and medical education. State-level education appropriations include state higher education agency allocations and all federal stimulus funding allocated to public institutions, while sector-level education appropriations exclude agency funding and include only the federal stimulus funding allocated to two-year or four-year public operating. In a handful of states, some uncategorizable state support and uncategorizable financial aid are not allocated to either sector.

Fiscal year 2025 marks the first year of a per-FTE decrease in education appropriations after 12 straight years of increases. Inflation-adjusted education appropriations per FTE decreased by 1.0% between 2024 and 2025, falling to $12,082 (Table 3.2). This decrease is the first year of declining education appropriations since appropriations began increasing in 2013, following four years of decreases between 2009 and 2012 due to the Great Recession. Despite this year’s decrease, per-FTE education appropriations in 2025 exceeded 2008 pre-recession levels by 9.2% and 2019 pre-COVID pandemic levels by 16.4%. Education appropriations per FTE in 2025 remained just slightly below (0.7%) 2001 levels, another pre-recession high point.

1. State Comparisons

States vary widely in their per-student funding for higher education. Education appropriations per FTE in 2025 ranged from $4,557 in New Hampshire to $25,468 in Illinois (Figure 3.2). 21 21Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details. VIEW ALL FOOTNOTES

  • Consistent with national-level increases, education appropriations per FTE declined in 31 states and Washington, D.C., between 2024 and 2025. Decreases ranged from 0.3% (or $41 per FTE) in Tennessee to 15.4% (or $3,401 per FTE) in Wyoming.
  • Education appropriations per FTE increased in 19 states between 2024 and 2025. Increases ranged from 0.3% (or $52 per FTE) in New York to 15.9% (or $1,805 per FTE) in Kansas.

Although nationally, education appropriations have recovered to 2008 levels and grown consistently between 2019 and 2024, 24 states continue funding higher education at a lower level than prior to the Great Recession, and eight states and Washington, D.C., continue funding at a lower level than prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the states with 2025 education appropriations per FTE below 2019 levels, Wyoming (18.4% below) and Indiana (17.8% below) were the furthest from pre-pandemic funding. Of the 24 states that had not yet recovered from the Great Recession by 2025, Arizona (47.4% below) and Louisiana (37.1% below). Additionally, in 29 states, education appropriations per FTE remain below the level seen in 2001 prior to the tech bust.

Figure 3.2

Public Higher Education Appropriations per FTE by State, FY 2025 (Adjusted)


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Notes:
  1. Education appropriations are a measure of state and local support available for public higher education operating expenses and student financial aid, excluding appropriations for research, hospitals, and medical education. Education appropriations include federal stimulus funding.
  2. The U.S. calculation does not include the District of Columbia.
  3. Fiscal year 2025 state-level education appropriations include estimated uncategorizable state support for South Carolina and South Dakota.
  4. Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details.
  5. Constant dollars adjusted to the latest year of data available by the Higher Education Cost Adjustment (HECA).
  6. Adjusted to account for interstate differences using the Enrollment Mix Index (EMI).
  7. Adjusted to account for interstate differences using the Cost of Living Index (COLI). The COLI is not a measure of inflation over time.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association
Table 3.2

Public Higher Education Appropriations per FTE by State, FY 1980-2025 (Constant Adjusted Dollars)

1980 2001 2015 2020 2024 2025 % Change Since 2024 % Change Since 2020 % Change Since 2015 % Change Since 2001 % Change Since 1980
Alabama $8,679 $10,216 $7,999 $9,635 $12,117 $11,210 -7.5% 16.3% 40.1% 9.7% 29.2%
Alaska $27,454 $16,961 $20,278 $19,832 $20,894 $22,141 6.0% 11.6% 9.2% 30.5% -19.4%
Arizona $9,405 $10,654 $7,503 $7,085 $6,874 $6,064 -11.8% -14.4% -19.2% -43.1% -35.5%
Arkansas $11,351 $12,136 $10,616 $10,320 $10,840 $9,557 -11.8% -7.4% -10.0% -21.2% -15.8%
California $9,907 $10,877 $9,537 $10,954 $12,342 $12,773 3.5% 16.6% 33.9% 17.4% 28.9%
Colorado $6,568 $7,955 $4,942 $6,272 $7,687 $7,933 3.2% 26.5% 60.5% -0.3% 20.8%
Connecticut $9,251 $18,147 $11,230 $11,382 $16,627 $15,096 -9.2% 32.6% 34.4% -16.8% 63.2%
Delaware $9,621 $11,132 $7,218 $8,262 $7,033 $7,322 4.1% -11.4% 1.4% -34.2% -23.9%
Florida $8,026 $12,169 $8,075 $9,690 $11,625 $11,503 -1.0% 18.7% 42.4% -5.5% 43.3%
Georgia $11,268 $17,431 $10,963 $12,588 $13,379 $12,727 -4.9% 1.1% 16.1% -27.0% 12.9%
Hawaii $10,997 $11,013 $11,333 $15,995 $16,188 $15,837 -2.2% -1.0% 39.7% 43.8% 44.0%
Idaho $14,842 $15,806 $10,524 $12,045 $12,783 $12,100 -5.3% 0.5% 15.0% -23.4% -18.5%
Illinois $11,109 $16,838 $19,319 $21,482 $25,062 $25,468 1.6% 18.6% 31.8% 51.3% 129.3%
Indiana $11,457 $11,370 $7,842 $7,979 $7,198 $6,716 -6.7% -15.8% -14.4% -40.9% -41.4%
Iowa $12,356 $13,532 $8,493 $7,394 $7,221 $7,296 1.0% -1.3% -14.1% -46.1% -41.0%
Kansas $11,541 $13,165 $8,488 $9,080 $11,316 $13,121 15.9% 44.5% 54.6% -0.3% 13.7%
Kentucky $12,480 $15,173 $9,467 $9,346 $10,494 $10,608 1.1% 13.5% 12.0% -30.1% -15.0%
Louisiana $10,961 $9,691 $7,521 $7,365 $8,704 $7,402 -15.0% 0.5% -1.6% -23.6% -32.5%
Maine $7,761 $11,464 $8,186 $8,826 $9,729 $9,028 -7.2% 2.3% 10.3% -21.3% 16.3%
Maryland $8,579 $11,521 $8,819 $10,677 $13,997 $13,674 -2.3% 28.1% 55.0% 18.7% 59.4%
Massachusetts $9,508 $12,831 $8,803 $10,238 $14,835 $14,644 -1.3% 43.0% 66.3% 14.1% 54.0%
Michigan $12,088 $14,823 $8,537 $9,273 $11,737 $10,640 -9.3% 14.7% 24.6% -28.2% -12.0%
Minnesota $12,645 $12,814 $8,423 $10,664 $11,849 $11,191 -5.6% 4.9% 32.9% -12.7% -11.5%
Mississippi $10,435 $12,710 $9,002 $7,977 $9,289 $8,764 -5.7% 9.9% -2.6% -31.0% -16.0%
Missouri $12,722 $15,236 $9,734 $10,567 $10,767 $10,972 1.9% 3.8% 12.7% -28.0% -13.8%
Montana $9,081 $7,004 $7,051 $7,535 $7,658 $7,839 2.4% 4.0% 11.2% 11.9% -13.7%
Nebraska $10,524 $10,479 $12,058 $12,995 $13,628 $13,760 1.0% 5.9% 14.1% 31.3% 30.7%
Nevada $10,802 $11,328 $8,410 $9,952 $10,740 $10,407 -3.1% 4.6% 23.7% -8.1% -3.7%
New Hampshire $5,510 $6,100 $4,488 $4,041 $4,673 $4,557 -2.5% 12.8% 1.5% -25.3% -17.3%
New Jersey $9,494 $12,827 $9,248 $9,770 $10,729 $10,194 -5.0% 4.3% 10.2% -20.5% 7.4%
New Mexico $12,826 $13,017 $14,192 $22,495 $24,041 $23,020 -4.2% 2.3% 62.2% 76.8% 79.5%
New York $13,089 $12,364 $12,777 $14,549 $15,995 $16,047 0.3% 10.3% 25.6% 29.8% 22.6%
North Carolina $12,310 $15,923 $12,308 $12,814 $13,903 $12,271 -11.7% -4.2% -0.3% -22.9% -0.3%
North Dakota $9,958 $8,461 $11,324 $10,315 $10,804 $10,066 -6.8% -2.4% -11.1% 19.0% 1.1%
Ohio $9,848 $11,829 $7,721 $7,728 $8,391 $8,352 -0.5% 8.1% 8.2% -29.4% -15.2%
Oklahoma $10,194 $12,461 $10,075 $8,995 $9,877 $9,379 -5.0% 4.3% -6.9% -24.7% -8.0%
Oregon $8,662 $9,379 $5,192 $7,684 $8,886 $8,580 -3.4% 11.7% 65.3% -8.5% -0.9%
Pennsylvania $11,845 $11,855 $5,708 $6,746 $7,070 $7,227 2.2% 7.1% 26.6% -39.0% -39.0%
Rhode Island $12,288 $10,647 $6,014 $6,241 $8,164 $7,966 -2.4% 27.6% 32.4% -25.2% -35.2%
South Carolina $11,588 $9,942 $6,663 $8,052 $9,607 $10,049 4.6% 24.8% 50.8% 1.1% -13.3%
South Dakota $11,218 $9,285 $7,660 $9,479 $10,493 $10,711 2.1% 13.0% 39.8% 15.4% -4.5%
Tennessee $10,689 $11,203 $10,397 $13,125 $14,997 $14,955 -0.3% 13.9% 43.8% 33.5% 39.9%
Texas $9,952 $11,563 $9,740 $13,471 $14,811 $14,879 0.5% 10.4% 52.8% 28.7% 49.5%
Utah $11,761 $10,205 $9,016 $10,525 $13,347 $12,153 -8.9% 15.5% 34.8% 19.1% 3.3%
Vermont $5,436 $4,962 $3,513 $4,396 $5,568 $5,470 -1.8% 24.4% 55.7% 10.2% 0.6%
Virginia $9,159 $11,402 $6,633 $8,753 $10,252 $11,547 12.6% 31.9% 74.1% 1.3% 26.1%
Washington $10,332 $9,941 $7,365 $10,069 $13,434 $14,409 7.3% 43.1% 95.6% 44.9% 39.5%
West Virginia $9,688 $9,275 $7,042 $7,566 $7,640 $8,432 10.4% 11.4% 19.7% -9.1% -13.0%
Wisconsin $12,437 $13,913 $10,211 $10,127 $10,306 $9,955 -3.4% -1.7% -2.5% -28.4% -20.0%
Wyoming $18,382 $15,017 $21,539 $22,727 $22,090 $18,689 -15.4% -17.8% -13.2% 24.5% 1.7%
D.C. N/A N/A $19,878 $29,319 $22,583 $21,848 -3.3% -25.5% 9.9% N/A N/A
U.S. $10,624 $12,169 $9,423 $10,801 $12,205 $12,082 -1.0% 11.9% 28.2% -0.7% 13.7%
Notes:
  1. Education appropriations are a measure of state and local support available for public higher education operating expenses and student financial aid, excluding appropriations for research, hospitals, and medical education. Education appropriations include federal stimulus funding.
  2. The U.S. calculation does not include the District of Columbia. Data for the District of Columbia are not available prior to 2011.
  3. The years 1980 and 2001 are included in this table because they are the starting points of the historical SHEF dataset and modern SHEF data collection, respectively.
  4. Fiscal year 2025 state-level education appropriations include estimated uncategorizable state support for South Carolina and South Dakota.
  5. Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details.
  6. Texas developed a new methodology to capture state funding to institutions of higher education and updated FTE enrollment starting in 2017. Years prior to 2017 do not reflect this new methodology, which may affect some year-to-year comparisons.
  7. Adjustment factors to arrive at constant dollar figures include Cost of Living Index (COLI), Enrollment Mix Index (EMI), and Higher Education Cost Adjustment (HECA). The COLI is not a measure of inflation over time.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association

2. Sector Comparisons

Table 3.2A presents data on education appropriations per FTE for the public two-year and four-year sectors separately. Two- and four-year institutions have different funding structures and allocation models in many states and vary in the amount of funding they receive from state and local sources. 22 22Unlike state-level education appropriations, sector-level education appropriations exclude agency funding and include only the portion of federal stimulus funding known to be allocated for two-year or four-year public operating purposes. In a handful of states, some state support and financial aid are uncategorizable, meaning they are not allocated to either sector, and are excluded from the sector-level data. VIEW ALL FOOTNOTES  

From 2024 to 2025, inflation-adjusted state and local education appropriations per FTE decreased 1.8% at two-year institutions, totaling $11,096 per FTE. Two-year public education appropriations per FTE ranged widely across states, from $5,069 in Louisiana to $19,954 per FTE in New Mexico. From 2024 to 2025, two-year education appropriations per FTE declined in 37 states, ranging from 0.2% (or $26 per FTE) in Connecticut to 20.5% (or $2,024 per FTE) in North Carolina. Twelve states had increases in two-year education appropriations per FTE in 2025. These year-over-year increases ranged from 0.5% (or $43 per FTE) in Mississippi to 10.7% (or $810 per FTE) in Vermont.

At four-year institutions, education appropriations per FTE decreased 0.6% from 2024 to 2025, falling to $11,151. Appropriations ranged even more widely in the four-year sector, from less than $5,000 per FTE in Arizona, New Hampshire, and Vermont to over $20,000 per FTE in Alaska, Illinois, New Mexico, Washington, D.C., and Wyoming. Twenty states experienced increases in four-year education appropriations per FTE between 2024 and 2025, ranging from 0.3% (or $40 per FTE) in Tennessee to 17.4% (or $1,860 per FTE) in Virginia. The remaining 30 states and Washington, D.C., experienced decreases ranging from 0.2% (or $32 per FTE) in Maryland to 19.1% (or $881 per FTE) in Arizona.

Figure 3.2A displays the disparity in funding between the two- and four-year public sectors within each state. States on the left side of the figure (the light blue bars) have relatively higher per-FTE appropriations in the two-year sector, while states on the right side of the figure (the dark blue bars) have higher per-FTE appropriations in the four-year sector. 

  • In 2025, four-year education appropriations per FTE were 0.5% higher than two-year education appropriations, with 26 states reporting higher per-FTE funding in the four-year sector.
  • Arizona had the largest education appropriation disparity favoring the two-year sector (106.1% higher), although this is entirely due to local appropriations that exclusively support community colleges. Florida has the highest disparity favoring the four-year sector, with 88.6% greater education appropriations per FTE at four-year institutions.

These high-level data on education appropriations should be interpreted cautiously and with consideration of each state’s broader context. This is because education appropriations attempt to make higher education funding more comparable across states by including local appropriations (which primarily support two-year institutions) but excluding research, agriculture, and medical (RAM) appropriations, which only support four-year institutions. For example, if RAM appropriations were included in the education appropriations total, four-year institutions would have received $2,247 per FTE more than two-year institutions, or 20.3% higher.

To help explain the components of sector-level education appropriations, Table 3.2B breaks out the different sources of state and local support per FTE for two- and four-year public institutions in fiscal year 2025.

  • Two-year public institutions received $6,672 per FTE in state general operating appropriations, 69.8% of the four-year general operating appropriation ($9,552 per FTE).
  • State financial aid awards averaged $780 per FTE at two-year institutions, 50.8% of the $1,535 per FTE awarded to students attending four-year institutions.
  • Local appropriations were 135.0 times higher at two-year institutions ($3,620 per FTE) compared to four-year institutions ($27 per FTE). There were two-year local appropriations in 28 states, compared to only eight for four-year institutions.
  • RAM averaged $2,191 per FTE at four-year institutions. These funds, which are only allocated to four-year institutions, are excluded from education appropriations but included in total state support.
  • Total state and local support at two-year institutions was $11,096 per FTE, 83.1% of the amount at four-year institutions ($13,349 per FTE).

Figure 3.2A

Percent Difference in Two-Year and Four-Year Public Higher Education Appropriations per FTE by State, FY 2025


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Notes:
  1. Education appropriations are a measure of state and local support available for public higher education operating expenses and student financial aid, excluding appropriations for research, hospitals, and medical education. Sector-level education appropriations include any portion of federal stimulus funding allocated specifically to each sector, but exclude state agency funding.
  2. Alaska and the District of Columbia are excluded from this figure because they do not have any public two-year institutions.
  3. Sector is determined at the institution level using the Carnegie Basic Classification (https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/). Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges and "less-than-two-year" degree-granting institutions not assigned a Carnegie classification are considered two-year institutions.
  4. In California, state funds used for nontuition financial aid are classified as uncategorizable state support. Therefore, they are not included in sector-level education appropriations.
  5. Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association
Table 3.2A

Public Higher Education Appropriations per FTE by Sector and State, FY 2019-2025 (Constant Adjusted Dollars)

Two-Year Education Appropriations Four-Year Education Appropriations
2019 2024 2025 % Change Since 2024 % Change Since 2019 2019 2024 2025 % Change Since 2024 % Change Since 2019
Alabama $8,821 $13,139 $11,468 -12.7% 30.0% $8,484 $11,696 $11,166 -4.5% 31.6%
Alaska $0 $0 $0 N/A N/A $18,794 $20,073 $21,265 5.9% 13.1%
Arizona $11,599 $12,053 $12,140 0.7% 4.7% $4,325 $4,606 $3,726 -19.1% -13.9%
Arkansas $9,855 $10,449 $10,204 -2.3% 3.5% $9,653 $9,409 $8,880 -5.6% -8.0%
California $10,415 $10,768 $11,709 8.7% 12.4% $10,016 $11,369 $11,108 -2.3% 10.9%
Colorado $7,284 $10,060 $10,329 2.7% 41.8% $5,004 $6,505 $6,855 5.4% 37.0%
Connecticut $10,624 $15,799 $15,773 -0.2% 48.5% $11,709 $15,645 $14,265 -8.8% 21.8%
Delaware $10,877 $11,994 $11,757 -2.0% 8.1% $6,734 $6,122 $6,505 6.2% -3.4%
Florida $5,758 $7,279 $6,565 -9.8% 14.0% $14,286 $16,372 $17,000 3.8% 19.0%
Georgia $8,388 $9,167 $8,686 -5.2% 3.6% $12,372 $13,669 $13,034 -4.6% 5.4%
Hawaii $12,742 $14,186 $13,987 -1.4% 9.8% $16,012 $15,162 $14,818 -2.3% -7.5%
Idaho $7,176 $7,465 $6,529 -12.5% -9.0% $10,742 $10,680 $10,290 -3.6% -4.2%
Illinois $14,912 $19,802 $18,974 -4.2% 27.2% $23,686 $26,965 $28,085 4.2% 18.6%
Indiana $7,001 $6,053 $5,474 -9.6% -21.8% $8,443 $7,550 $7,256 -3.9% -14.1%
Iowa $5,674 $6,590 $6,998 6.2% 23.3% $8,172 $7,938 $7,725 -2.7% -5.5%
Kansas $10,586 $13,297 $12,626 -5.0% 19.3% $7,337 $9,944 $10,764 8.2% 46.7%
Kentucky $7,433 $7,714 $7,549 -2.1% 1.6% $9,691 $11,053 $11,622 5.2% 19.9%
Louisiana $4,450 $5,253 $5,069 -3.5% 13.9% $7,706 $7,752 $7,342 -5.3% -4.7%
Maine $8,905 $9,111 $8,055 -11.6% -9.6% $8,776 $10,259 $9,759 -4.9% 11.2%
Maryland $9,233 $11,623 $10,840 -6.7% 17.4% $9,728 $14,976 $14,944 -0.2% 53.6%
Massachusetts $8,056 $13,847 $12,570 -9.2% 56.0% $10,070 $14,841 $15,284 3.0% 51.8%
Michigan $11,820 $16,619 $14,501 -12.7% 22.7% $7,866 $8,736 $9,022 3.3% 14.7%
Minnesota $8,080 $10,346 $9,568 -7.5% 18.4% $9,718 $11,499 $11,171 -2.9% 14.9%
Mississippi $7,090 $8,455 $8,498 0.5% 19.9% $7,986 $9,874 $8,884 -10.0% 11.2%
Missouri $8,164 $13,796 $13,630 -1.2% 67.0% $8,966 $9,021 $9,250 2.5% 3.2%
Montana $6,651 $6,950 $6,726 -3.2% 1.1% $7,543 $8,177 $8,233 0.7% 9.2%
Nebraska $13,701 $15,371 $15,198 -1.1% 10.9% $11,582 $12,649 $12,884 1.9% 11.2%
Nevada $7,367 $8,786 $8,649 -1.6% 17.4% $10,933 $11,294 $11,396 0.9% 4.2%
New Hampshire $5,478 $8,486 $8,345 -1.7% 52.3% $2,766 $3,678 $3,524 -4.2% 27.4%
New Jersey $4,974 $5,956 $5,644 -5.2% 13.5% $9,175 $12,051 $11,568 -4.0% 26.1%
New Mexico $13,115 $20,841 $19,954 -4.3% 52.1% $19,869 $21,648 $21,043 -2.8% 5.9%
New York $10,728 $12,308 $11,747 -4.6% 9.5% $16,104 $17,351 $17,699 2.0% 9.9%
North Carolina $9,813 $9,860 $7,836 -20.5% -20.1% $15,093 $16,523 $16,123 -2.4% 6.8%
North Dakota $8,744 $8,917 $8,111 -9.0% -7.2% $9,013 $9,848 $9,248 -6.1% 2.6%
Ohio $9,345 $9,317 $9,564 2.7% 2.3% $7,371 $7,957 $7,928 -0.4% 7.6%
Oklahoma $7,210 $9,271 $8,829 -4.8% 22.4% $8,301 $9,137 $8,654 -5.3% 4.3%
Oregon $8,648 $12,666 $11,591 -8.5% 34.0% $5,565 $6,424 $6,531 1.7% 17.4%
Pennsylvania $6,600 $8,488 $8,532 0.5% 29.3% $6,059 $6,869 $6,833 -0.5% 12.8%
Rhode Island $6,487 $8,188 $8,069 -1.4% 24.4% $6,000 $7,478 $7,266 -2.8% 21.1%
South Carolina $8,332 $9,130 $9,006 -1.4% 8.1% $6,847 $9,503 $10,438 9.8% 52.4%
South Dakota $5,863 $6,843 $7,060 3.2% 20.4% $7,289 $9,220 $9,021 -2.2% 23.8%
Tennessee $10,829 $15,297 $14,971 -2.1% 38.2% $12,446 $13,759 $13,799 0.3% 10.9%
Texas $10,119 $12,082 $11,683 -3.3% 15.5% $8,578 $7,747 $7,288 -5.9% -15.0%
Utah $11,138 $14,345 $14,123 -1.5% 26.8% $9,592 $13,005 $11,813 -9.2% 23.2%
Vermont $3,222 $7,582 $8,392 10.7% 160.5% $3,331 $4,973 $4,788 -3.7% 43.7%
Virginia $5,895 $8,187 $8,639 5.5% 46.6% $7,821 $10,708 $12,568 17.4% 60.7%
Washington $7,928 $11,963 $12,883 7.7% 62.5% $9,909 $13,683 $14,811 8.2% 49.5%
West Virginia $8,463 $10,205 $10,260 0.5% 21.2% $6,307 $7,126 $8,071 13.3% 28.0%
Wisconsin $14,346 $14,992 $14,099 -6.0% -1.7% $6,683 $7,275 $7,158 -1.6% 7.1%
Wyoming $20,171 $14,843 $12,344 -16.8% -38.8% $22,582 $26,898 $25,037 -6.9% 10.9%
D.C. $0 $0 $0 N/A N/A $21,757 $21,545 $20,844 -3.3% -4.2%
U.S. $9,681 $11,294 $11,096 -1.8% 14.6% $9,866 $11,220 $11,151 -0.6% 13.0%
Notes:
  1. Education appropriations are a measure of state and local support available for public higher education operating expenses and student financial aid, excluding appropriations for research, hospitals, and medical education. Sector-level education appropriations include any portion of federal stimulus funding allocated specifically to each sector but exclude state agency funding.
  2. The U.S. calculation does not include the District of Columbia. There are no two-year public institutions in Alaska or the District of Columbia.
  3. The year 2019 is included in this table because it is the starting point of the sector-level SHEF dataset.
  4. Sector is determined at the institution level using the Carnegie Basic Classification (https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/). Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges and "less-than-two-year" degree-granting institutions not assigned a Carnegie classification are considered two-year institutions.
  5. Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details.
  6. Adjustment factors to arrive at constant dollar figures include Cost of Living Index (COLI) and Higher Education Cost Adjustment (HECA). The COLI is not a measure of inflation over time. The Enrollment Mix Index (EMI) is not applied to sector-level data.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association
Table 3.2B

Components of Public Higher Education Appropriations per FTE by Sector and State, FY 2025 (Adjusted)

Two-Year Public Institutions Four-Year Public Institutions
State Operating State Financial Aid Local Education Appropriations State and Local Support State Operating State Financial Aid Local Education Appropriations RAM State and Local Support
Alabama $11,300 $116 $53 $11,468 $11,468 $10,784 $381 $0 $11,166 $3,201 $14,394
Alaska $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $20,050 $1,165 $51 $21,265 $1,482 $22,748
Arizona $1,302 $6 $10,832 $12,140 $12,140 $3,323 $373 $0 $3,726 $1,006 $4,732
Arkansas $7,752 $735 $1,718 $10,204 $10,204 $7,361 $1,519 $0 $8,880 $3,386 $12,279
California $7,348 $618 $3,742 $11,709 $11,709 $9,100 $2,008 $0 $11,108 $1,684 $12,793
Colorado $5,706 $1,327 $3,297 $10,329 $10,329 $5,508 $1,346 $0 $6,855 $1,589 $8,443
Connecticut $11,990 $1,100 $0 $15,773 $15,773 $10,972 $437 $0 $14,265 $4,850 $19,115
Delaware $11,653 $103 $0 $11,757 $11,757 $5,777 $728 $0 $6,505 $345 $6,849
Florida $5,921 $505 $140 $6,565 $6,565 $14,500 $2,500 $0 $17,000 $1,977 $18,977
Georgia $7,607 $1,079 $0 $8,686 $8,686 $9,836 $3,198 $0 $13,034 $1,918 $14,952
Hawaii $13,641 $346 $0 $13,987 $13,987 $14,727 $87 $0 $14,818 $4,940 $19,758
Idaho $4,036 $123 $2,369 $6,529 $6,529 $9,835 $454 $0 $10,290 $1,791 $12,081
Illinois $9,589 $860 $8,524 $18,974 $18,974 $25,861 $2,224 $0 $28,085 $1,259 $29,345
Indiana $4,800 $674 $0 $5,474 $5,474 $5,815 $1,442 $0 $7,256 $1,695 $8,952
Iowa $5,341 $663 $993 $6,998 $6,998 $7,467 $257 $0 $7,725 $2,087 $9,840
Kansas $5,373 $313 $6,941 $12,626 $12,626 $9,535 $741 $479 $10,764 $4,033 $14,889
Kentucky $5,173 $2,357 $0 $7,549 $7,549 $8,617 $2,523 $473 $11,622 $1,624 $13,246
Louisiana $4,203 $866 $0 $5,069 $5,069 $4,786 $2,555 $0 $7,342 $3,297 $10,660
Maine $6,461 $1,594 $0 $8,055 $8,055 $8,694 $631 $0 $9,759 $1,424 $11,183
Maryland $5,426 $178 $5,236 $10,840 $10,840 $14,305 $639 $0 $14,944 $2,409 $17,353
Massachusetts $9,950 $2,620 $0 $12,570 $12,570 $13,825 $1,459 $0 $15,284 $683 $15,967
Michigan $4,969 $1,634 $7,897 $14,501 $14,501 $7,860 $1,163 $0 $9,022 $970 $9,992
Minnesota $8,430 $1,138 $0 $9,568 $9,568 $9,352 $1,818 $0 $11,171 $2,248 $13,419
Mississippi $6,514 $155 $1,828 $8,498 $8,498 $8,258 $626 $0 $8,884 $5,675 $14,559
Missouri $5,691 $1,732 $6,208 $13,630 $13,630 $8,427 $823 $0 $9,250 $2,589 $11,838
Montana $5,151 $41 $1,534 $6,726 $6,726 $8,185 $48 $0 $8,233 $1,789 $10,022
Nebraska $14,797 $401 $0 $15,198 $15,198 $12,202 $682 $0 $12,884 $4,710 $17,594
Nevada $8,115 $534 $0 $8,649 $8,649 $9,029 $2,355 $12 $11,396 $2,548 $13,944
New Hampshire $7,602 $602 $0 $8,345 $8,345 $3,160 $326 $0 $3,524 $549 $4,073
New Jersey $2,242 $818 $2,585 $5,644 $5,644 $9,111 $2,457 $0 $11,568 $1,824 $13,392
New Mexico $8,251 $1,128 $10,576 $19,954 $19,954 $14,790 $5,500 $753 $21,043 $5,690 $26,763
New York $4,223 $880 $6,644 $11,747 $11,747 $16,056 $1,477 $166 $17,699 $1,264 $18,963
North Carolina $6,123 $113 $1,505 $7,836 $7,836 $15,222 $901 $0 $16,123 $3,270 $19,393
North Dakota $7,395 $716 $0 $8,111 $8,111 $8,674 $575 $0 $9,248 $3,879 $13,127
Ohio $6,437 $107 $3,020 $9,564 $9,564 $7,019 $909 $0 $7,928 $1,079 $9,007
Oklahoma $5,763 $1,003 $2,063 $8,829 $8,829 $7,098 $1,556 $0 $8,654 $2,017 $10,671
Oregon $6,084 $1,308 $4,198 $11,591 $11,591 $5,349 $1,182 $0 $6,531 $1,859 $8,390
Pennsylvania $5,180 $521 $2,831 $8,532 $8,532 $5,725 $1,108 $0 $6,833 $432 $7,265
Rhode Island $6,749 $1,115 $0 $8,069 $8,069 $6,953 $313 $0 $7,266 $0 $7,266
South Carolina $4,465 $2,665 $1,876 $9,006 $9,006 $8,233 $2,166 $40 $10,438 $2,219 $12,660
South Dakota $7,021 $40 $0 $7,060 $7,060 $8,772 $249 $0 $9,021 $2,244 $11,265
Tennessee $10,645 $4,325 $0 $14,971 $14,971 $11,451 $2,348 $0 $13,799 $4,535 $18,334
Texas $3,702 $125 $7,856 $11,683 $11,683 $6,207 $1,081 $0 $7,288 $4,910 $12,218
Utah $14,004 $119 $0 $14,123 $14,123 $11,578 $236 $0 $11,813 $1,209 $13,022
Vermont $6,021 $2,371 $0 $8,392 $8,392 $4,283 $397 $0 $4,788 $1,079 $5,905
Virginia $6,614 $1,961 $64 $8,639 $8,639 $9,915 $2,582 $70 $12,568 $2,007 $14,666
Washington $11,235 $1,648 $0 $12,883 $12,883 $12,072 $2,739 $0 $14,811 $791 $15,603
West Virginia $7,425 $2,835 $0 $10,260 $10,260 $5,441 $2,630 $0 $8,071 $3,811 $11,882
Wisconsin $9,187 $468 $4,444 $14,099 $14,099 $6,240 $734 $0 $7,158 $1,701 $8,860
Wyoming $9,086 $154 $3,105 $12,344 $12,344 $21,804 $3,008 $0 $25,037 $6,178 $31,215
D.C. $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $20,160 $684 $0 $20,844 $959 $21,803
U.S. $6,672 $780 $3,620 $11,096 $11,096 $9,552 $1,535 $27 $11,151 $2,191 $13,349
Notes:
  1. State public operating appropriations are a measure of state support directly allocated to public two- and four-year institutions. State public operating excludes local appropriations, agency funding, RAM, and student financial aid.
  2. State public financial aid is any state appropriated student financial aid for public institutions, excluding loans and aid for students attending medical schools. For some states, it includes aid for both tuition costs and living expenses.
  3. Local appropriations are any local government taxes allocated directly to institutions for operating expenses.
  4. Education appropriations are a measure of state and local support available for public higher education operating expenses and student financial aid, excluding appropriations for research, hospitals, and medical education. Sector-level education appropriations include any portion of federal stimulus funding allocated specifically to each sector but exclude state agency funding.
  5. RAM refers to the total appropriations intended for the direct operations of research, agriculture, public health care services, and medical schools.
  6. Total state and local support is the sum of federal stimulus funds, state and local tax appropriations, non-tax support, non-appropriated support, state-funded endowment earnings, and other state funds, net of any funds not available for use. RAM is included in four-year state and local support. Sector-level state and local support includes any portion of federal stimulus funding allocated specifically to each sector.
  7. The U.S. calculation does not include the District of Columbia. There are no two-year public institutions in Alaska or the District of Columbia.
  8. Sector is determined at the institution level using the Carnegie Basic Classification (https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/). Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges and "less-than-two-year" degree-granting institutions not assigned a Carnegie classification are considered two-year institutions.
  9. Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details.
  10. In California, state funds used for nontuition financial aid are classified as uncategorizable state support, which is not included in sector-level state and local support, sector-level education appropriations, nor sector-level financial aid.
  11. Adjustment factors to arrive at constant dollar figures include Cost of Living Index (COLI) and Higher Education Cost Adjustment (HECA). The COLI is not a measure of inflation over time. The Enrollment Mix Index (EMI) is not applied to sector-level data.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association

State Spotlight : Nebraska

NE

In fiscal year 2025, Nebraska changed the way community colleges in the state receive public funding for operations. Historically, community colleges levied local property taxes and received state aid to support operations at two-year institutions. In FY24, two-year institutions received $224.0 million in local property tax support for operations, or $9,675 per FTE. This accounted for almost 65% of all public higher education appropriations for two-year institutions in the state. State operating support for two-year institutions in FY24 was $4,985 per FTE, or roughly one-third of total education appropriations.

In 2023, the Nebraska unicameral legislature passed Legislative Bill 243, which phased in elimination of the community college property tax for operations as part of a broader shift to lower local property taxes. To replace the local taxes, the Nebraska legislature created the Community College Future Fund. Beginning in FY25, local tax appropriations for operations at two-year institutions in Nebraska dropped to $0, while state support from the Community College Future Fund and state operating aid increased to $367.4 million, or $14,797 per FTE. State operating support now accounts for over 97% of all public higher education appropriations for two-year institutions in Nebraska.

While the state intends to maintain the Community College Future Fund through transfers from the state’s General Fund and grow it based on a formula that applies the greater of 3.5% annual increases or program-weighted enrollment growth, LB243 also permits the community colleges to again levy local property taxes for operations, limited to the amount equal to lost funding, if state aid is reduced from the previous or base year or the calculated amount due from the Community College Future Fund is not provided to them.

State Public Financial Aid

Map 3.3

State Public Financial Aid per FTE, FY 2025

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State public financial aid is the part of education appropriations allocated to financial aid for students attending public institutions, excluding loans. While we present financial aid on a per-FTE basis along with all other metrics in the SHEF report, it is important to note that financial aid is not awarded to all students, and changes in aid per FTE could be due to rising award amounts or an increase in the number of students receiving an award.

Financial aid has increased steadily despite economic recessions that negatively impacted the rest of education appropriations. The SHEF data collection on financial aid goes back to 2001. From that year forward, financial aid per FTE has increased in all but three years. 

State public financial aid per FTE increased 5.1% from 2024 to 2025 and reached an all-time high of $1,271 per FTE. Because financial aid per FTE has a low base, percentage increases represent smaller dollar-amount increases than similar figures in the other revenue metrics. The 5.1% increase in the last year corresponded to an additional $61 per FTE in financial aid.

1. State Comparisons

States vary considerably in the size and extent of their financial aid programs (Figure 3.3). In 2025, all states and Washington, D.C., had at least one public financial aid program. Public state financial aid ranged from $44 per FTE in Montana to $3,662 per FTE in New Mexico.

Since 2001, per-student aid has increased in 47 states. Despite the longstanding increases in financial aid nationally, per-student aid decreased in 24 states, from 2024 to 2025 (Table 3.3). The largest percentage decrease was in Maine (21.0%), with a decrease of $249 per FTE. The smallest decrease in financial aid was in Tennessee (0.4%), with a decrease of $12 per FTE.

Financial aid per FTE increased in 26 states and Washington, D.C., from 2024 to 2025. Increases ranged from 0.4% (or $5 per FTE) in New York to 195.5% (or $399 per FTE) in Connecticut.

State Spotlight : Michigan

MI

In fiscal year (FY) 2025, state financial aid to students attending public institutions in Michigan increased 118.9% to reach $1,298 per FTE. Financial aid increases in Michigan in recent years have primarily benefited students attending community colleges due to the Futures for Frontliners and Michigan Reconnect programs. After a few years of growth in these programs, nearly 92% of total state public financial aid was allocated to the two-year sector in FY 2023. This most recent increase in state public financial aid from 2024 to 2025 can be attributed to the creation of the Michigan Achievement Scholarship (MAS), Michigan’s new flagship scholarship program, which benefited students attending both two- and four-year public institutions. After the implementation of this scholarship in 2024, per-student state financial aid to public four-year institutions increased 4,071% from 2023 to 2025 and 157.0% from 2024 to 2025. Students in the two-year sector also saw increases of 130.1% since 2023 and 74.4% since 2024.

The Michigan Achievement Scholarship, created in 2023 and funded through Michigan’s Postsecondary Scholarship Fund, is the state’s flagship financial aid program supporting students at community colleges, public universities, private nonprofit institutions, and programs leading to industry-recognized skill certificates. The program promotes full-time enrollment within one year of high school graduation and served approximately 64,000 students in FY2025, with participation expected to reach about 128,000 students annually once fully implemented in FY2028. Through the Community College Guarantee, all recent high school graduates who enroll full time at their local community college qualify for in-district tuition coverage, with Pell Grant recipients receiving an additional $1,000 to help cover living expenses. At four-year institutions, the scholarship provides up to $5,500 annually, with approximately two-thirds of incoming full-time recent high school graduates qualifying. To implement the program, the state deposited $250 million into the Postsecondary Scholarship Fund in 2023 and has continued building the reserve with additional appropriations of $300 million in FY2024, $330 million in FY2025, and $380 million in FY2026. Once fully implemented in 2028, MAS is expected to provide more than $600 million annually in state financial aid.

Figure 3.3

Public Higher Education State Financial Aid per FTE by State, FY 2025 (Adjusted)


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Notes:
  1. State public financial aid is any state appropriated student financial aid for public institutions, excluding loans and aid for students attending medical schools. For many states, it includes aid for both tuition costs and living expenses. In several states, financial aid may include unawarded funds that were reverted back to the state.
  2. The U.S. calculation does not include the District of Columbia.
  3. Fiscal year 2025 total state financial aid includes estimated public financial aid for Nevada and Pennsylvania.
  4. In California, state funds used for nontuition financial aid are classified as uncategorizable state support. Therefore, they are not included in state financial aid.
  5. Constant dollars adjusted to the latest year of data available by the Higher Education Cost Adjustment (HECA).
  6. Adjusted to account for interstate differences using the Enrollment Mix Index (EMI).
  7. Adjusted to account for interstate differences using the Cost of Living Index (COLI). The COLI is not a measure of inflation over time.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association
Table 3.3

Public Higher Education State Financial Aid per FTE by State, FY 2001-2025 (Constant Adjusted Dollars)

2001 2015 2020 2024 2025 % Change Since 2024 % Change Since 2020 % Change Since 2015 % Change Since 2001
Alabama $184 $462 $463 $318 $334 4.9% -27.9% -27.8% 81.1%
Alaska $0 $838 $907 $781 $1,225 56.9% 35.0% 46.1% N/A
Arizona $35 $55 $105 $298 $262 -12.0% 149.9% 377.9% 654.2%
Arkansas $769 $1,614 $1,326 $1,149 $1,344 16.9% 1.3% -16.7% 74.7%
California $442 $1,358 $958 $1,213 $1,261 3.9% 31.5% -7.2% 185.2%
Colorado $819 $998 $1,242 $1,416 $1,447 2.2% 16.5% 45.0% 76.7%
Connecticut $556 $342 $339 $204 $603 195.5% 77.8% 76.4% 8.4%
Delaware $570 $473 $490 $531 $573 8.0% 16.9% 21.2% 0.6%
Florida $987 $835 $1,697 $1,571 $1,466 -6.7% -13.6% 75.7% 48.5%
Georgia $2,197 $2,293 $2,714 $2,771 $2,683 -3.2% -1.2% 17.0% 22.1%
Hawaii $12 $84 $133 $186 $177 -5.0% 33.4% 110.4% 1405.8%
Idaho $121 $163 $465 $395 $373 -5.7% -19.9% 128.9% 207.2%
Illinois $1,245 $791 $1,121 $1,713 $1,685 -1.7% 50.3% 112.9% 35.3%
Indiana $724 $1,319 $1,399 $1,185 $1,203 1.5% -14.0% -8.8% 66.2%
Iowa $64 $150 $253 $425 $420 -1.2% 65.8% 180.2% 558.8%
Kansas $139 $134 $150 $646 $573 -11.3% 283.1% 326.6% 311.8%
Kentucky $374 $1,439 $1,888 $2,298 $2,463 7.2% 30.5% 71.1% 559.0%
Louisiana $995 $2,239 $2,457 $2,009 $2,127 5.9% -13.4% -5.0% 113.8%
Maine $477 $475 $556 $1,187 $938 -21.0% 68.6% 97.5% 96.7%
Maryland $429 $392 $405 $458 $482 5.2% 19.1% 22.9% 12.4%
Massachusetts $700 $390 $453 $1,617 $1,881 16.3% 314.9% 382.2% 168.7%
Michigan $852 $23 $19 $593 $1,298 118.9% 6594.5% 5531.8% 52.4%
Minnesota $852 $835 $935 $1,056 $1,549 46.6% 65.7% 85.6% 81.8%
Mississippi $640 $416 $443 $471 $412 -12.6% -7.0% -1.0% -35.6%
Missouri $354 $760 $913 $1,150 $1,127 -2.0% 23.4% 48.2% 218.2%
Montana $162 $221 $78 $46 $44 -4.3% -44.1% -80.2% -73.1%
Nebraska $64 $224 $318 $614 $585 -4.7% 84.0% 160.9% 820.2%
Nevada $1,112 $1,262 $1,491 $1,740 $1,622 -6.8% 8.7% 28.5% 45.8%
New Hampshire $44 $8 $131 $240 $379 57.9% 188.8% 4751.8% 771.4%
New Jersey $1,050 $1,193 $1,500 $1,917 $2,219 15.7% 48.0% 85.9% 111.3%
New Mexico $1,061 $1,296 $1,440 $3,935 $3,662 -6.9% 154.4% 182.5% 245.1%
New York $1,187 $1,474 $1,628 $1,284 $1,289 0.4% -20.8% -12.6% 8.6%
North Carolina $359 $551 $483 $569 $502 -11.8% 4.0% -8.8% 40.1%
North Dakota $58 $476 $624 $629 $597 -5.0% -4.3% 25.4% 927.8%
Ohio $369 $275 $371 $568 $716 26.1% 92.8% 160.0% 94.2%
Oklahoma $418 $1,084 $1,095 $1,100 $1,383 25.7% 26.2% 27.5% 230.6%
Oregon $233 $401 $702 $1,261 $1,214 -3.8% 72.8% 203.0% 421.9%
Pennsylvania $1,023 $827 $690 $764 $1,114 45.8% 61.4% 34.8% 8.9%
Rhode Island $199 $161 $486 $536 $546 1.9% 12.4% 238.8% 174.5%
South Carolina $610 $1,974 $2,760 $2,612 $2,308 -11.6% -16.4% 16.9% 278.1%
South Dakota $9 $226 $266 $234 $219 -6.3% -17.8% -3.3% 2474.1%
Tennessee $348 $2,338 $3,267 $3,061 $3,049 -0.4% -6.7% 30.4% 776.8%
Texas $24 $387 $771 $811 $752 -7.3% -2.6% 94.1% 3016.8%
Utah $104 $177 $282 $242 $209 -13.8% -25.9% 18.3% 101.4%
Vermont $581 $512 $511 $648 $670 3.4% 31.2% 31.0% 15.4%
Virginia $603 $762 $1,100 $2,020 $2,341 15.9% 112.8% 207.0% 288.4%
Washington $792 $1,501 $1,673 $2,024 $2,238 10.6% 33.8% 49.1% 182.4%
West Virginia $498 $1,633 $1,646 $1,721 $2,598 50.9% 57.8% 59.1% 421.6%
Wisconsin $498 $754 $718 $622 $650 4.5% -9.5% -13.8% 30.4%
Wyoming $1,189 $1,587 $1,627 $1,592 $1,377 -13.5% -15.4% -13.2% 15.8%
D.C. N/A $1,383 $1,192 $691 $716 3.8% -39.9% -48.2% N/A
U.S. $616 $927 $1,043 $1,210 $1,271 5.1% 21.9% 37.0% 106.2%
Notes:
  1. State public financial aid is any state appropriated student financial aid for public institutions, excluding loans and aid for students attending medical schools. For many states, it includes aid for both tuition costs and living expenses. In several states, financial aid may include unawarded funds that were reverted back to the state.
  2. Financial aid data are not available prior to 2001. Over time, states have shifted from reporting appropriated student financial aid to reporting actual/awarded student financial aid. Any such updates are made to all historical data for each state.
  3. The U.S. calculation does not include the District of Columbia. Data for the District of Columbia are not available prior to 2011.
  4. Fiscal year 2025 total state financial aid includes estimated public financial aid for Nevada and Pennsylvania.
  5. In fiscal year 2024, Michigan launched the Michigan Achievement Scholarship, which will give out over $600 million in state financial aid once fully implemented in fiscal year 2028. Michigan has been ramping up ongoing spending to support the fully implemented costs by depositing additional funds into the Post-Secondary Scholarship reserve fund. See the Michigan State Spotlight for more details.
  6. In California, state funds used for nontuition financial aid are classified as uncategorizable state support. Therefore, they are not included in state financial aid.
  7. Texas developed a new methodology to capture state funding to institutions of higher education and updated FTE enrollment starting in 2017. Years prior to 2017 do not reflect this new methodology, which may affect some year-to-year comparisons.
  8. Adjustment factors to arrive at constant dollar figures include Cost of Living Index (COLI), Enrollment Mix Index (EMI), and Higher Education Cost Adjustment (HECA). The COLI is not a measure of inflation over time.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association

2. Sector Comparisons

Table 3.3A presents state financial aid allocated to FTE students in the public two-year and four-year sectors, separately. In some cases, states were not able to identify the sector for some of their financial aid dollars. In those cases, the funds were listed as “uncategorizable” and are excluded from this section. 23 23Overall, 2.1% of state public financial aid was uncategorizable. Thirty-eight states and Washington, D.C., were able to classify all state public financial aid by sector and listed no uncategorizable aid. In four states, more than 10% of aid could not be classified by sector: Alabama (11.2%), New Jersey (14.0%), Pennsylvania (14.3%), and Texas (12.3%). Additionally, in California, state funds for nontuition financial aid are classified as uncategorizable state support. Therefore, they are not included in sector-level data. VIEW ALL FOOTNOTES

At two-year institutions, state public financial aid per FTE increased 3.7% from 2024 to 2025 (a $28 increase per FTE), reaching $780 per FTE. Aid ranged from $6 per FTE in Arizona to $4,325 in Tennessee. Montana and South Dakota were the only other states to provide less than $100 per FTE student, while Kentucky, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Vermont, and West Virginia were the only other states to provide more than $2,000 per FTE.

Financial aid to two-year institutions increased in 22 states from 2024 to 2025. The largest increase was in Connecticut (173.5%, or $698 per FTE), while the smallest was in Kentucky (3.3%, or $74 per FTE). Of the 27 states with declines, decreases ranged from 0.2% (or $1 per FTE) in Indiana to 38.3% (or $74 per FTE) in Utah.

At four-year institutions, state public financial aid increased 5.3%, or $78 per FTE, between 2024 and 2025, totaling $1,535 per FTE. Aid ranged from $48 per FTE in Montana to $5,500 per FTE in New Mexico. New Mexico provided 1.7 times the amount of four-year financial aid per FTE than Georgia, which had the second largest amount at $3,198 per FTE.

From 2024 to 2025, four-year aid allocations increased in 25 states and Washington, D.C. The other 25 had decreases in per-FTE financial aid ranging from 0.3% (or $3 per FTE) in Missouri to 29.1% (or $163 per FTE) in Vermont.

Measurement Note: Financial Aid Reporting

financial aid reporting

Starting with fiscal year (FY) 2019, the SHEF data collection asked states to provide state financial aid by sector. For many statewide programs, there is not a separate financial aid appropriation for two-year and four-year public institutions, and actual allocations must be reported to obtain accurate sector-level data. As a result, many states switched from reporting financial aid appropriations to reporting actual allocations by sector. A handful of states, including those with multiple sector-level data providers, have always provided financial aid allocations. This reporting change is noteworthy because financial aid awards depend on the number of students who qualify and apply for each aid program, and appropriations rarely match allocations. In all cases, prior year data were corrected to match the new reporting methodology, or unallocated funds were listed as “uncategorizable public aid” to ensure continuity in state support definitions over time. Nevertheless, this reporting change marks a departure from the historical practice of SHEF reporting state appropriations for financial aid.

Figure 3.3A displays the disparity in state financial aid between the two- and four-year public sectors within each state. States on the left side of the figure (the light blue bars) have higher per-FTE financial aid in the two-year sector, while states on the right side of the figure (the dark blue bars) have relatively higher per-FTE financial aid in the four-year sector. While most states have greater per-FTE financial aid in the four-year sector (65.3% higher, nationally), the four-year sector also has much higher tuition rates. Arizona had the largest disparity in financial aid favoring its four-year sector (193.6% higher in the four-year than two-year sector), while Vermont had the largest disparity favoring its two-year sector (142.7% higher in the two-year than four-year sector).

Figure 3.3A

Percent Difference in Two-Year and Four-Year Public Higher Education State Financial Aid per FTE by State, FY 2025


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Notes:
  1. State public financial aid is any state appropriated student financial aid for public institutions, excluding loans and aid for students attending medical schools. For many states, it includes aid for both tuition costs and living expenses. Sector-level state public financial aid excludes any financial aid that could not be categorized by sector. Differences in aid amounts across sector capture variation in the proportion of students receiving an award as well as differences in average award size.
  2. Alaska and the District of Columbia are excluded from this figure because they do not have any public two-year institutions.
  3. Sector is determined at the institution level using the Carnegie Basic Classification (https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/). Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges and "less-than-two-year" degree-granting institutions not assigned a Carnegie classification are considered two-year institutions.
  4. Fiscal year 2025 sector-level state financial aid includes estimated public financial aid for Nevada and Pennsylvania.
  5. In California, state funds used for nontuition financial aid are classified as uncategorizable state support. Therefore, they are not included in sector-level financial aid.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association
Table 3.3A

Public Higher Education State Financial Aid per FTE by Sector and State, FY 2019-2025 (Constant Adjusted Dollars)

Two-Year Financial Aid Four-Year Financial Aid
2019 2024 2025 % Change Since 2024 % Change Since 2019 2019 2024 2025 % Change Since 2024 % Change Since 2019
Alabama $196 $125 $116 -7.8% -41.1% $615 $315 $381 20.9% -38.0%
Alaska $0 $0 $0 N/A N/A $847 $744 $1,165 56.5% 37.5%
Arizona $7 $6 $6 -1.9% -15.1% $73 $445 $373 -16.1% 411.1%
Arkansas $345 $538 $735 36.6% 112.9% $1,600 $1,270 $1,519 19.6% -5.0%
California $795 $656 $618 -5.9% -22.3% $1,078 $1,847 $2,008 8.7% 86.3%
Colorado $1,108 $1,246 $1,327 6.5% 19.7% $978 $1,254 $1,346 7.4% 37.6%
Connecticut $376 $402 $1,100 173.5% 192.8% $330 $136 $437 222.5% 32.3%
Delaware $119 $113 $103 -8.7% -13.1% $622 $660 $728 10.2% 17.1%
Florida $575 $566 $505 -10.9% -12.3% $2,762 $2,609 $2,500 -4.2% -9.5%
Georgia $980 $1,091 $1,079 -1.0% 10.1% $3,151 $3,298 $3,198 -3.0% 1.5%
Hawaii $169 $361 $346 -4.1% 104.2% $113 $94 $87 -7.9% -23.5%
Idaho $266 $165 $123 -25.3% -53.7% $445 $463 $454 -1.8% 2.0%
Illinois $392 $892 $860 -3.6% 119.3% $1,473 $2,248 $2,224 -1.1% 51.0%
Indiana $780 $675 $674 -0.2% -13.7% $1,720 $1,406 $1,442 2.6% -16.2%
Iowa $145 $639 $663 3.8% 357.3% $78 $270 $257 -4.8% 229.9%
Kansas $25 $420 $313 -25.6% 1134.6% $231 $788 $741 -6.0% 220.6%
Kentucky $1,855 $2,282 $2,357 3.3% 27.0% $1,690 $2,315 $2,523 9.0% 49.3%
Louisiana $526 $538 $866 61.1% 64.5% $3,169 $2,498 $2,555 2.3% -19.4%
Maine $862 $2,126 $1,594 -25.0% 84.9% $522 $735 $631 -14.2% 20.9%
Maryland $93 $140 $178 27.7% 91.5% $507 $618 $639 3.3% 26.1%
Massachusetts $455 $1,898 $2,620 38.0% 475.6% $428 $1,453 $1,459 0.4% 240.6%
Michigan $8 $937 $1,634 74.4% 20035.0% $33 $452 $1,163 157.0% 3393.1%
Minnesota $630 $695 $1,138 63.7% 80.7% $1,141 $1,289 $1,818 41.1% 59.3%
Mississippi $148 $213 $155 -27.1% 5.1% $646 $689 $626 -9.2% -3.1%
Missouri $1,032 $1,838 $1,732 -5.8% 67.8% $680 $825 $823 -0.3% 21.0%
Montana $29 $37 $41 13.1% 42.9% $59 $52 $48 -7.1% -19.2%
Nebraska $251 $410 $401 -2.3% 59.8% $311 $714 $682 -4.5% 119.0%
Nevada $652 $575 $534 -7.1% -18.0% $2,157 $2,523 $2,355 -6.6% 9.2%
New Hampshire $371 $418 $602 44.2% 62.5% $45 $196 $326 66.1% 627.8%
New Jersey $757 $873 $818 -6.4% 7.9% $1,718 $2,346 $2,457 4.7% 43.0%
New Mexico $310 $1,011 $1,128 11.5% 263.4% $2,116 $6,012 $5,500 -8.5% 159.9%
New York $1,309 $833 $880 5.6% -32.8% $1,842 $1,493 $1,477 -1.1% -19.8%
North Carolina $124 $88 $113 27.4% -9.4% $802 $973 $901 -7.4% 12.2%
North Dakota $521 $731 $716 -2.1% 37.3% $564 $613 $575 -6.3% 1.9%
Ohio $42 $77 $107 39.2% 153.3% $399 $632 $909 43.9% 128.1%
Oklahoma $775 $1,014 $1,003 -1.1% 29.3% $1,266 $1,145 $1,556 35.9% 22.9%
Oregon $851 $1,430 $1,308 -8.5% 53.7% $527 $1,187 $1,182 -0.5% 124.4%
Pennsylvania $399 $454 $521 14.8% 30.5% $722 $872 $1,108 27.0% 53.4%
Rhode Island $969 $1,145 $1,115 -2.6% 15.1% $214 $286 $313 9.7% 46.1%
South Carolina $2,696 $2,855 $2,665 -6.7% -1.2% $2,632 $2,538 $2,166 -14.7% -17.7%
South Dakota $34 $50 $40 -20.4% 18.5% $298 $264 $249 -5.6% -16.6%
Tennessee $3,527 $4,377 $4,325 -1.2% 22.6% $2,934 $2,331 $2,348 0.7% -20.0%
Texas $149 $137 $125 -8.8% -15.9% $1,224 $1,148 $1,081 -5.9% -11.7%
Utah $95 $194 $119 -38.3% 25.1% $312 $260 $236 -9.4% -24.5%
Vermont $1,006 $1,061 $2,371 123.5% 135.7% $449 $560 $397 -29.1% -11.7%
Virginia $703 $1,842 $1,961 6.5% 178.9% $1,171 $2,155 $2,582 19.8% 120.5%
Washington $901 $1,367 $1,648 20.5% 83.0% $2,033 $2,690 $2,739 1.8% 34.7%
West Virginia $1,201 $1,944 $2,835 45.8% 136.1% $1,776 $1,717 $2,630 53.2% 48.1%
Wisconsin $590 $484 $468 -3.2% -20.6% $805 $684 $734 7.3% -8.8%
Wyoming $763 $139 $154 11.2% -79.8% $2,441 $3,090 $3,008 -2.6% 23.2%
D.C. $0 $0 $0 N/A N/A $1,357 $659 $684 3.8% -49.6%
U.S. $663 $752 $780 3.7% 17.6% $1,208 $1,458 $1,535 5.3% 27.1%
Notes:
  1. State public financial aid is any state appropriated student financial aid for public institutions, excluding loans and aid for students attending medical schools. For many states, it includes aid for both tuition costs and living expenses. Sector-level state public financial aid excludes any financial aid that could not be categorized by sector.
  2. The U.S. calculation does not include the District of Columbia. There are no two-year public institutions in Alaska or the District of Columbia.
  3. The year 2019 is included in this table because it is the starting point of the sector-level SHEF dataset.
  4. Sector is determined at the institution level using the Carnegie Basic Classification (https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/). Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges and "less-than-two-year" degree-granting institutions not assigned a Carnegie classification are considered two-year institutions.
  5. In California, state funds used for nontuition financial aid are classified as uncategorizable state support. Therefore, they are not included in sector-level financial aid.
  6. Adjustment factors to arrive at constant dollar figures include Cost of Living Index (COLI) and Higher Education Cost Adjustment (HECA). The COLI is not a measure of inflation over time. The Enrollment Mix Index (EMI) is not applied to sector-level data.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association

Financial Aid Share

Financial aid is one component of education appropriations. This section provides data on state public financial aid as a percentage of education appropriations (the financial aid allocation) by state and sector. The percentage of education appropriations allocated to state financial aid has increased over time. In 2001, 5.1% of education appropriations were directed toward student financial aid; by 2025, this proportion had increased to 10.5% (an increase of 5.5 percentage points).

1. State Comparisons

States vary considerably in how much of their total funding is allocated to student financial aid. On the low end, Montana has a very small aid program that comprised only 0.6% of its total education appropriations. On the high end, the financial aid allocation accounted for 30.8% of West Virginia’s total funding for public higher education (Figure 3.4).

Financial aid as a percentage of education appropriations has increased in 44 states since 2001, when financial aid data was first collected for the SHEF dataset. Of the six states with declines in the proportion of education appropriations allocated to financial aid, Maryland (0.2 percentage points) had the smallest decline, while Montana (1.8 percentage points) had the largest.

Table 3.4

Public Higher Education State Financial Aid as a Percentage of Education Appropriations by State, FY 2001-2025

2001 2015 2020 2024 2025 Change Since 2024 Change Since 2020 Chance Since 2015 Chance Since 2001
Alabama 1.8% 3.3% 5.8% 4.8% 2.6% 0.0 0.4 -1.8 -2.8 -0.3 1.2
Alaska 0.0% 0.3% 4.1% 4.6% 3.7% 0.1 1.8 1.0 1.4 5.3 5.5
Arizona 0.3% 0.7% 0.7% 1.5% 4.3% 0.0 0.0 2.8 3.6 3.7 4.0
Arkansas 6.3% 7.7% 15.2% 12.9% 10.6% 0.1 3.5 1.2 -1.1 6.3 7.7
California 4.1% 9.0% 14.2% 8.7% 9.8% 0.1 0.0 1.1 -4.4 0.9 5.8
Colorado 10.3% 11.9% 20.2% 19.8% 18.4% 0.2 -0.2 -1.6 -1.9 6.4 7.9
Connecticut 3.1% 3.2% 3.0% 3.0% 1.2% 0.0 2.8 1.0 1.0 0.8 0.9
Delaware 5.1% 6.0% 6.6% 5.9% 7.5% 0.1 0.3 1.9 1.3 1.8 2.7
Florida 8.1% 14.9% 10.3% 17.5% 13.5% 0.1 -0.8 -4.8 2.4 -2.1 4.6
Georgia 12.6% 22.8% 20.9% 21.6% 20.7% 0.2 0.4 -0.5 0.2 -1.7 8.5
Hawaii 0.1% 0.7% 0.7% 0.8% 1.2% 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.4 0.4 1.0
Idaho 0.8% 1.5% 1.5% 3.9% 3.1% 0.0 0.0 -0.8 1.5 1.6 2.3
Illinois 7.4% 5.2% 4.1% 5.2% 6.8% 0.1 -0.2 1.4 2.5 1.4 -0.8
Indiana 6.4% 12.7% 16.8% 17.5% 16.5% 0.2 1.4 0.4 1.1 5.2 11.5
Iowa 0.5% 1.2% 1.8% 3.4% 5.9% 0.1 -0.1 2.3 4.0 4.5 5.3
Kansas 1.1% 1.6% 1.6% 1.6% 5.7% 0.0 -1.3 2.7 2.8 2.8 3.3
Kentucky 2.5% 12.4% 15.2% 20.2% 21.9% 0.2 1.3 3.0 8.0 10.8 20.8
Louisiana 10.3% 12.4% 29.8% 33.4% 23.1% 0.3 5.7 -4.6 -1.0 16.3 18.5
Maine 4.2% 3.9% 5.8% 6.3% 12.2% 0.1 -1.8 4.1 4.6 6.5 6.2
Maryland 3.7% 4.7% 4.4% 3.8% 3.3% 0.0 0.3 -0.3 -0.9 -1.2 -0.2
Massachusetts 5.5% 4.4% 4.4% 4.4% 10.9% 0.1 1.9 8.4 8.4 8.4 7.4
Michigan 5.7% 1.7% 0.3% 0.2% 5.1% 0.1 7.1 12.0 11.9 10.5 6.5
Minnesota 6.6% 8.5% 9.9% 8.8% 8.9% 0.1 4.9 5.1 3.9 5.3 7.2
Mississippi 5.0% 2.8% 4.6% 5.6% 5.1% 0.0 -0.4 -0.9 0.1 1.9 -0.3
Missouri 2.3% 4.5% 7.8% 8.6% 10.7% 0.1 -0.4 1.6 2.5 5.8 7.9
Montana 2.3% 3.2% 3.1% 1.0% 0.6% 0.0 0.0 -0.5 -2.6 -2.6 -1.8
Nebraska 0.6% 1.4% 1.9% 2.4% 4.5% 0.0 -0.3 1.8 2.4 2.8 3.6
Nevada 9.8% 11.1% 15.0% 15.0% 16.2% 0.2 -0.6 0.6 0.6 4.5 5.8
New Hampshire 0.7% 2.1% 0.2% 3.3% 5.1% 0.1 3.2 5.1 8.2 6.2 7.6
New Jersey 8.2% 10.9% 12.9% 15.3% 17.9% 0.2 3.9 6.4 8.9 10.9 13.6
New Mexico 8.2% 9.9% 9.1% 6.4% 16.4% 0.2 -0.5 9.5 6.8 6.0 7.8
New York 9.6% 11.1% 11.5% 11.2% 8.0% 0.1 0.0 -3.2 -3.5 -3.1 -1.6
North Carolina 2.3% 4.7% 4.5% 3.8% 4.1% 0.0 0.0 0.3 -0.4 -0.6 1.8
North Dakota 0.7% 3.4% 4.2% 6.1% 5.8% 0.1 0.1 -0.1 1.7 2.6 5.2
Ohio 3.1% 3.1% 3.6% 4.8% 6.8% 0.1 1.8 3.8 5.0 5.4 5.5
Oklahoma 3.4% 8.9% 10.8% 12.2% 11.1% 0.1 3.6 2.6 4.0 5.9 11.4
Oregon 2.5% 10.4% 7.7% 9.1% 14.2% 0.1 0.0 5.0 6.4 3.8 11.7
Pennsylvania 8.6% 11.7% 14.5% 10.2% 10.8% 0.2 4.6 5.2 0.9 3.7 6.8
Rhode Island 1.9% 5.5% 2.7% 7.8% 6.6% 0.1 0.3 -0.9 4.2 1.3 5.0
South Carolina 6.1% 28.7% 29.6% 34.3% 27.2% 0.2 -4.2 -11.3 -6.7 -5.7 16.8
South Dakota 0.1% 2.0% 3.0% 2.8% 2.2% 0.0 -0.2 -0.8 -0.9 0.0 2.0
Tennessee 3.1% 19.8% 22.5% 24.9% 20.4% 0.2 0.0 -4.5 -2.1 0.5 17.3
Texas 0.2% 4.0% 4.0% 5.7% 5.5% 0.1 -0.4 -0.7 1.1 1.1 4.8
Utah 1.0% 1.8% 2.0% 2.7% 1.8% 0.0 -0.1 -1.0 -0.2 -0.1 0.7
Vermont 11.7% 13.5% 14.6% 11.6% 11.6% 0.1 0.6 0.6 -2.3 -1.2 0.5
Virginia 5.3% 9.2% 11.5% 12.6% 19.7% 0.2 0.6 7.7 8.8 11.1 15.0
Washington 8.0% 13.1% 20.4% 16.6% 15.1% 0.2 0.5 -1.1 -4.8 2.5 7.6
West Virginia 5.4% 21.0% 23.2% 21.8% 22.5% 0.3 8.3 9.0 7.6 9.8 25.4
Wisconsin 3.6% 4.8% 7.4% 7.1% 6.0% 0.1 0.5 -0.6 -0.9 1.7 2.9
Wyoming 7.9% 8.7% 7.4% 7.2% 7.2% 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.0 -1.3 -0.6
D.C. N/A N/A 7.0% 4.1% 3.1% 0.0 0.2 -0.8 -3.7 N/A N/A
U.S. 5.1% 8.3% 9.8% 9.7% 9.9% 0.1 0.6 0.9 0.7 2.2 5.5
Notes:
  1. State public financial aid is any state appropriated student financial aid for public institutions, excluding loans and aid for students attending medical schools. For many states, it includes aid for both tuition costs and living expenses. In several states, financial aid includes unawarded funds that were reverted back to the state.
  2. Education appropriations are a measure of state and local support available for public higher education operating expenses and student financial aid, excluding appropriations for research, hospitals, and medical education. Education appropriations include federal stimulus funding.
  3. Financial aid data are not available prior to 2001. Over time, states have shifted from reporting appropriated student financial aid to reporting actual/awarded student financial aid. Any such updates are made to all historical data for each state.
  4. Year change columns show percentage point increases or decreases, not percent change.
  5. The U.S. calculation does not include the District of Columbia. Data for the District of Columbia are not available prior to 2011.
  6. Fiscal year 2025 total state financial aid includes estimated public financial aid for Nevada and Pennsylvania.
  7. Fiscal year 2025 state-level education appropriations include estimated uncategorizable state support for South Carolina and South Dakota.
  8. In fiscal year 2024, Michigan launched the Michigan Achievement Scholarship, which will give out over $600 million in state financial aid once fully implemented in fiscal year 2028. Michigan has been ramping up ongoing spending to support the fully implemented costs by depositing additional funds into the Post-Secondary Scholarship reserve fund. See the Michigan State Spotlight for more details.
  9. Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details.
  10. In California, state funds used for nontuition financial aid are classified as uncategorizable state support, which is included in state-level education appropriations but not included in state financial aid.
Figure 3.4

Public Higher Education State Financial Aid as a Percentage of Education Appropriations by State, FY 2025 (Adjusted)


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Notes:
  1. Education appropriations are a measure of state and local support available for public higher education operating expenses and student financial aid, excluding appropriations for research, hospitals, and medical education. Education appropriations include federal stimulus funding.
  2. Fiscal year 2025 state-level education appropriations include estimated uncategorizable state support for South Carolina and South Dakota and estimated public financial aid for Nevada and Pennsylvania.
  3. Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details.
  4. In California, state funds used for nontuition financial aid are classified as uncategorizable state support, which is included in state-level education appropriations but not included in state financial aid.
  5. State public financial aid is any state appropriated student financial aid for public institutions, excluding loans. Aid for students attending medical schools is excluded starting in fiscal year 2019. For many states, it includes aid for both tuition costs and living expenses. In several states, financial aid may include unawarded funds that were reverted back to the state.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association

2. Sector Comparisons

The percentage of education appropriations allocated to financial aid differs for two- and four-year institutions. In fiscal year 2025, 7.0% of funding at two-year institutions went to financial aid, compared to 13.8% of funding at four-year institutions.

  • The financial aid allocation at two-year institutions ranged from 0.05% in Arizona to 31.2% in Kentucky. Including Arizona, five states had a two-year financial aid allocation of less than 1%.
  • At four-year institutions, Montana had the lowest financial aid allocation (0.6%), and Louisiana had the highest (34.8%). Hawai‘i was the only other state that had a four-year financial aid allocation of less than 1%.

Figure 3.4A shows the difference in the financial aid allocation as a percentage of sector-level education appropriations between two- and four-year institutions. In states on the figure’s left side (the light blue bars), the financial aid allocation as a percentage of two-year education appropriations is highest in the two-year sector. Most states are on the right side of Figure 3.4A (the dark blue bars), indicating that in a majority of states, the mix of funding for four-year institutions leans more toward student aid than at two-year institutions.

Figure 3.4A

Difference in Two-Year and Four-Year State Financial Aid as a Percentage of Education Appropriations by State, FY 2025


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Notes:
  1. State public financial aid is any state appropriated student financial aid for public institutions, excluding loans and aid for students attending medical schools. For many states, it includes aid for both tuition costs and living expenses. Sector-level state public financial aid excludes any financial aid that could not be categorized by sector. Differences in aid amounts across sector capture variation in the proportion of students receiving an award as well as differences in average award size.
  2. Education appropriations are a measure of state and local support available for public higher education operating expenses and student financial aid, excluding appropriations for research, hospitals, and medical education. Sector-level education appropriations include any portion of federal stimulus funding allocated specifically to each sector, but exclude state agency funding.
  3. Percentage point differences show the number of percentage points by which the financial aid share is higher at either two- or four-year institutions, not the percent difference between the two.
  4. Alaska and the District of Columbia are excluded from this figure because they do not have any public two-year institutions.
  5. Sector is determined at the institution level using the Carnegie Basic Classification (https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/). Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges and "less-than-two-year" degree-granting institutions not assigned a Carnegie classification are considered two-year institutions.
  6. Fiscal year 2025 sector-level state financial aid includes estimated public financial aid for Nevada and Pennsylvania.
  7. In California, state funds used for nontuition financial aid are classified as uncategorizable state support, which is not included in sector-level education appropriations or sector-level financial aid.
  8. Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association
Table 3.4A

Public Higher Education State Financial Aid as a Percentage of Education Appropriations by Sector and State, FY 2019-2025

Two-Year Financial Aid Share Four-Year Financial Aid Share
2019 2024 2025 Change Since 2024 Change Since 2019 2019 2024 2025 Change Since 2024 Change Since 2019
Alabama 2.2% 1.0% 1.0% 0.1 -1.2 7.2% 2.7% 3.4% 0.7 -3.8
Alaska N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 4.5% 3.7% 5.5% 1.8 1.0
Arizona 0.1% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0 0.0 1.7% 9.7% 10.0% 0.4 8.3
Arkansas 3.5% 5.1% 7.2% 2.1 3.7 16.6% 13.5% 17.1% 3.6 0.5
California 7.6% 6.1% 5.3% -0.8 -2.4 10.8% 16.2% 18.1% 1.8 7.3
Colorado 15.2% 12.4% 12.8% 0.5 -2.4 19.5% 19.3% 19.6% 0.4 0.1
Connecticut 3.5% 2.5% 7.0% 4.4 3.4 2.8% 0.9% 3.1% 2.2 0.2
Delaware 1.1% 0.9% 0.9% -0.1 -0.2 9.2% 10.8% 11.2% 0.4 2.0
Florida 10.0% 7.8% 7.7% -0.1 -2.3 19.3% 15.9% 14.7% -1.2 -4.6
Georgia 11.7% 11.9% 12.4% 0.5 0.7 25.5% 24.1% 24.5% 0.4 -0.9
Hawaii 1.3% 2.5% 2.5% -0.1 1.1 0.7% 0.6% 0.6% 0.0 -0.1
Idaho 3.7% 2.2% 1.9% -0.3 -1.8 4.1% 4.3% 4.4% 0.1 0.3
Illinois 2.6% 4.5% 4.5% 0.0 1.9 6.2% 8.3% 7.9% -0.4 1.7
Indiana 11.1% 11.1% 12.3% 1.2 1.2 20.4% 18.6% 19.9% 1.2 -0.5
Iowa 2.6% 9.7% 9.5% -0.2 6.9 1.0% 3.4% 3.3% -0.1 2.4
Kansas 0.2% 3.2% 2.5% -0.7 2.2 3.2% 7.9% 6.9% -1.0 3.7
Kentucky 25.0% 29.6% 31.2% 1.6 6.3 17.4% 20.9% 21.7% 0.8 4.3
Louisiana 11.8% 10.2% 17.1% 6.8 5.2 41.1% 32.2% 34.8% 2.6 -6.3
Maine 9.7% 23.3% 19.8% -3.5 10.1 5.9% 7.2% 6.5% -0.7 0.5
Maryland 1.0% 1.2% 1.6% 0.4 0.6 5.2% 4.1% 4.3% 0.1 -0.9
Massachusetts 5.6% 13.7% 20.8% 7.1 15.2 4.3% 9.8% 9.5% -0.2 5.3
Michigan 0.1% 5.6% 11.3% 5.6 11.2 0.4% 5.2% 12.9% 7.7 12.5
Minnesota 7.8% 6.7% 11.9% 5.2 4.1 11.7% 11.2% 16.3% 5.1 4.5
Mississippi 2.1% 2.5% 1.8% -0.7 -0.3 8.1% 7.0% 7.0% 0.1 -1.0
Missouri 12.6% 13.3% 12.7% -0.6 0.1 7.6% 9.1% 8.9% -0.3 1.3
Montana 0.4% 0.5% 0.6% 0.1 0.2 0.8% 0.6% 0.6% 0.0 -0.2
Nebraska 1.8% 2.7% 2.6% 0.0 0.8 2.7% 5.6% 5.3% -0.4 2.6
Nevada 8.8% 6.5% 6.2% -0.4 -2.7 19.7% 22.3% 20.7% -1.7 0.9
New Hampshire 6.8% 4.9% 7.2% 2.3 0.4 1.6% 5.3% 9.3% 3.9 7.6
New Jersey 15.2% 14.7% 14.5% -0.2 -0.7 18.7% 19.5% 21.2% 1.8 2.5
New Mexico 2.4% 4.9% 5.7% 0.8 3.3 10.7% 27.8% 26.1% -1.6 15.5
New York 12.2% 6.8% 7.5% 0.7 -4.7 11.4% 8.6% 8.3% -0.3 -3.1
North Carolina 1.3% 0.9% 1.4% 0.5 0.2 5.3% 5.9% 5.6% -0.3 0.3
North Dakota 6.0% 8.2% 8.8% 0.6 2.9 6.3% 6.2% 6.2% 0.0 0.0
Ohio 0.5% 0.8% 1.1% 0.3 0.7 5.4% 7.9% 11.5% 3.5 6.1
Oklahoma 10.8% 10.9% 11.4% 0.4 0.6 15.3% 12.5% 18.0% 5.5 2.7
Oregon 9.8% 11.3% 11.3% 0.0 1.4 9.5% 18.5% 18.1% -0.4 8.6
Pennsylvania 6.0% 5.3% 6.1% 0.8 0.1 11.9% 12.7% 16.2% 3.5 4.3
Rhode Island 14.9% 14.0% 13.8% -0.2 -1.1 3.6% 3.8% 4.3% 0.5 0.7
South Carolina 32.4% 31.3% 29.6% -1.7 -2.8 38.4% 26.7% 20.7% -6.0 -17.7
South Dakota 0.6% 0.7% 0.6% -0.2 0.0 4.1% 2.9% 2.8% -0.1 -1.3
Tennessee 32.6% 28.6% 28.9% 0.3 -3.7 23.6% 16.9% 17.0% 0.1 -6.6
Texas 1.5% 1.1% 1.1% -0.1 -0.4 14.3% 14.8% 14.8% 0.0 0.6
Utah 0.9% 1.3% 0.8% -0.5 0.0 3.3% 2.0% 2.0% 0.0 -1.3
Vermont 31.2% 14.0% 28.3% 14.3 -3.0 13.5% 11.3% 8.3% -3.0 -5.2
Virginia 11.9% 22.5% 22.7% 0.2 10.8 15.0% 20.1% 20.5% 0.4 5.6
Washington 11.4% 11.4% 12.8% 1.4 1.4 20.5% 19.7% 18.5% -1.2 -2.0
West Virginia 14.2% 19.1% 27.6% 8.6 13.4 28.2% 24.1% 32.6% 8.5 4.4
Wisconsin 4.1% 3.2% 3.3% 0.1 -0.8 12.0% 9.4% 10.3% 0.8 -1.8
Wyoming 3.8% 0.9% 1.2% 0.3 -2.5 10.8% 11.5% 12.0% 0.5 1.2
D.C. N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 6.2% 3.1% 3.3% 0.2 -3.0
U.S. 6.8% 6.7% 7.0% 0.4 0.2 12.2% 13.0% 13.8% 0.8 1.5
Notes:
  1. State public financial aid is any state appropriated student financial aid for public institutions, excluding loans and aid for students attending medical schools. For many states, it includes aid for both tuition costs and living expenses. Sector-level state public financial aid excludes any financial aid that could not be categorized by sector.
  2. Education appropriations are a measure of state and local support available for public higher education operating expenses and student financial aid, excluding appropriations for research, hospitals, and medical education. Sector-level education appropriations include any portion of federal stimulus funding allocated specifically to each sector but exclude state agency funding.
  3. Year change columns show percentage point increases or decreases, not percent change.
  4. The U.S. calculation does not include the District of Columbia. There are no two-year public institutions in Alaska or the District of Columbia.
  5. The year 2019 is included in this table because it is the starting point of the sector-level SHEF dataset.
  6. Sector is determined at the institution level using the Carnegie Basic Classification (https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/). Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges and "less-than-two-year" degree-granting institutions not assigned a Carnegie classification are considered two-year institutions.
  7. Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details.
  8. In California, state funds used for nontuition financial aid are classified as uncategorizable state support, which is not included in sector-level education appropriations, nor sector-level financial aid.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association

This section thoroughly examines the trends and interstate differences in net tuition and fee revenue and total education revenue, including the student share. We also present sector-level breakouts for each of these metrics.

Net Tuition Revenue

Map 4.1

Net Tuition Revenue per FTE, FY 2025

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Net tuition and fee revenue is calculated by taking the gross amount of tuition and fees net of state and institutional financial aid, tuition waivers or discounts, and medical student tuition and fees. Federal financial aid and student loans are included in net tuition and fee revenue.

After decades of steady tuition and fee increases, this trend has recently shifted; tuition and fee revenue has declined in four of the last five years. Public institutions received $7,459 in net tuition revenue from in-state and out-of-state students in 2025, down 3.5% from 2024. This is the second-largest one-year decrease (after 2024) since 1980, the start of the SHEF dataset. Collectively, net tuition and fee revenue is down 11.8% over the last five years (since 2020). Decreases in net tuition revenue are largely due to increases in state financial aid and minimal tuition rate growth (lower than the rate of inflation).

1. State Comparisons

Net tuition and fee revenue per FTE ranged widely across the states due to variations in the mix of students paying different tuition rates, the level of state support and availability of state public financial aid, and whether institutions can freely raise their tuition rates (Figure 4.1). On the low end, net tuition and fee revenue was $2,288 per FTE in Nevada. On the high end, net tuition and fee revenue was $20,707 in Delaware.

  • Table 4.1 shows that net tuition and fee revenue per FTE declined in 37 states and Washington, D.C., between 2024 and 2025. Year-over-year declines ranged from 0.1% (or $10 per FTE) in Montana to 23.8% (or $958 per FTE) in Wyoming.
  • Thirteen states had net tuition and fee revenue increases from 2024 to 2025. Of those, increases ranged from 0.1% (or $3 per FTE) in Florida to 10.1% (or $310 per FTE) in New Mexico.

Between 2020 and 2025, net tuition and fee revenue declined in 42 states and Washington, D.C. Despite these recent declines, net tuition revenue per FTE has increased in every state but one (Nevada, which has declined by 9.6%), and by more than 100% in 41 states, since 1980. The smallest increase between 1980 and 2025 was 2.1% in Wyoming; the largest increase was 378.8% in Alabama.

Figure 4.1

Public Higher Education Net Tuition Revenue per FTE by State, FY 2025 (Adjusted)


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Notes:
  1. Net tuition revenue is calculated by taking the gross amount of tuition and fees, less state and institutional financial aid, tuition waivers or discounts, and medical student tuition and fees.
  2. The U.S. calculation does not include the District of Columbia.
  3. In fiscal year 2025 net tuition and fee revenue is estimated for Alabama, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
  4. Constant dollars adjusted to the latest year of data available by the Higher Education Cost Adjustment (HECA).
  5. Adjusted to account for interstate differences using the Enrollment Mix Index (EMI).
  6. Adjusted to account for interstate differences using the Cost of Living Index (COLI). The COLI is not a measure of inflation over time.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association
Table 4.1

Public Higher Education Net Tuition Revenue per FTE by State, FY 1980-2025 (Constant Adjusted Dollars)

1980 2001 2015 2020 2024 2025 % Change Since 2024 % Change Since 2020 % Change Since 2015 % Change Since 2001 % Change Since 1980
Alabama $3,155 $7,529 $15,546 $17,139 $16,078 $15,106 -6.0% -11.9% -2.8% 100.6% 378.8%
Alaska $2,839 $3,777 $5,259 $6,032 $5,167 $4,735 -8.4% -21.5% -10.0% 25.3% 66.8%
Arizona $2,539 $4,999 $9,714 $10,398 $10,428 $10,463 0.3% 0.6% 7.7% 109.3% 312.1%
Arkansas $3,490 $4,123 $7,464 $8,630 $9,057 $8,099 -10.6% -6.2% 8.5% 96.4% 132.0%
California $808 $1,318 $3,215 $3,837 $3,033 $2,936 -3.2% -23.5% -8.7% 122.8% 263.6%
Colorado $3,797 $5,661 $11,252 $12,571 $12,600 $12,574 -0.2% 0.0% 11.8% 122.1% 231.1%
Connecticut $2,521 $6,169 $10,972 $13,573 $11,013 $10,671 -3.1% -21.4% -2.7% 73.0% 323.3%
Delaware $5,869 $13,015 $20,679 $23,562 $20,280 $20,707 2.1% -12.1% 0.1% 59.1% 252.8%
Florida $2,020 $3,720 $4,360 $2,889 $2,518 $2,520 0.1% -12.8% -42.2% -32.3% 24.7%
Georgia $2,514 $3,088 $6,647 $6,321 $5,191 $5,207 0.3% -17.6% -21.7% 68.6% 107.1%
Hawaii $1,026 $2,677 $5,559 $5,347 $4,919 $4,482 -8.9% -16.2% -19.4% 67.5% 336.9%
Idaho $2,505 $4,847 $9,785 $9,615 $9,132 $9,222 1.0% -4.1% -5.8% 90.3% 268.2%
Illinois $2,179 $3,855 $9,652 $9,827 $9,201 $8,890 -3.4% -9.5% -7.9% 130.6% 307.9%
Indiana $4,369 $8,043 $12,459 $12,567 $11,642 $11,024 -5.3% -12.3% -11.5% 37.1% 152.4%
Iowa $4,008 $7,347 $12,572 $12,423 $12,121 $12,607 4.0% 1.5% 0.3% 71.6% 214.5%
Kansas $3,480 $5,223 $8,720 $8,884 $8,002 $7,810 -2.4% -12.1% -10.4% 49.5% 124.4%
Kentucky $3,247 $6,434 $11,685 $11,662 $10,171 $9,452 -7.1% -19.0% -19.1% 46.9% 191.1%
Louisiana $2,492 $3,462 $6,526 $6,351 $5,996 $5,335 -11.0% -16.0% -18.2% 54.1% 114.1%
Maine $3,673 $6,784 $8,544 $7,959 $6,408 $6,395 -0.2% -19.6% -25.1% -5.7% 74.1%
Maryland $3,072 $6,812 $8,788 $9,309 $8,380 $8,355 -0.3% -10.3% -4.9% 22.6% 172.0%
Massachusetts $2,812 $5,239 $6,564 $6,887 $7,043 $6,193 -12.1% -10.1% -5.7% 18.2% 120.2%
Michigan $5,102 $8,986 $16,788 $18,339 $17,074 $16,246 -4.9% -11.4% -3.2% 80.8% 218.4%
Minnesota $2,860 $5,415 $11,447 $11,917 $11,034 $10,702 -3.0% -10.2% -6.5% 97.6% 274.3%
Mississippi $3,625 $4,973 $8,380 $9,792 $9,939 $9,982 0.4% 1.9% 19.1% 100.7% 175.4%
Missouri $3,587 $5,778 $9,444 $9,140 $9,795 $10,093 3.0% 10.4% 6.9% 74.7% 181.3%
Montana $2,385 $5,273 $7,945 $8,361 $8,458 $8,448 -0.1% 1.0% 6.3% 60.2% 254.2%
Nebraska $3,018 $5,117 $7,907 $8,585 $7,092 $6,895 -2.8% -19.7% -12.8% 34.7% 128.5%
Nevada $2,530 $3,261 $4,440 $3,036 $2,419 $2,288 -5.4% -24.6% -48.5% -29.8% -9.6%
New Hampshire $6,558 $11,510 $11,765 $11,197 $9,841 $9,438 -4.1% -15.7% -19.8% -18.0% 43.9%
New Jersey $2,355 $8,074 $11,923 $8,649 $7,215 $6,321 -12.4% -26.9% -47.0% -21.7% 168.4%
New Mexico $2,469 $1,863 $3,684 $5,825 $3,060 $3,369 10.1% -42.2% -8.5% 80.8% 36.5%
New York $3,192 $5,213 $7,086 $7,101 $6,805 $6,485 -4.7% -8.7% -8.5% 24.4% 103.2%
North Carolina $2,425 $3,721 $6,278 $6,139 $5,527 $5,041 -8.8% -17.9% -19.7% 35.5% 107.9%
North Dakota $2,906 $5,735 $9,813 $10,948 $10,018 $9,206 -8.1% -15.9% -6.2% 60.5% 216.8%
Ohio $4,816 $8,191 $11,777 $11,711 $11,217 $10,174 -9.3% -13.1% -13.6% 24.2% 111.2%
Oklahoma $2,516 $3,379 $7,910 $10,183 $9,524 $8,645 -9.2% -15.1% 9.3% 155.9% 243.6%
Oregon $2,857 $5,244 $9,684 $10,240 $9,993 $9,913 -0.8% -3.2% 2.4% 89.0% 247.0%
Pennsylvania $5,583 $11,265 $13,494 $13,550 $12,380 $11,547 -6.7% -14.8% -14.4% 2.5% 106.8%
Rhode Island $3,752 $8,379 $9,857 $10,230 $10,908 $9,958 -8.7% -2.7% 1.0% 18.9% 165.4%
South Carolina $2,784 $5,847 $11,703 $12,950 $11,494 $12,285 6.9% -5.1% 5.0% 110.1% 341.2%
South Dakota $4,244 $7,917 $10,147 $11,050 $10,212 $9,935 -2.7% -10.1% -2.1% 25.5% 134.1%
Tennessee $3,110 $5,661 $9,467 $8,333 $8,368 $8,915 6.5% 7.0% -5.8% 57.5% 186.7%
Texas $2,273 $5,954 $6,688 $8,916 $8,045 $8,168 1.5% -8.4% 22.1% 37.2% 259.4%
Utah $2,926 $3,701 $7,482 $7,847 $7,564 $7,728 2.2% -1.5% 3.3% 108.8% 164.1%
Vermont $8,980 $15,971 $19,084 $19,328 $16,892 $16,795 -0.6% -13.1% -12.0% 5.2% 87.0%
Virginia $2,902 $5,430 $9,735 $10,587 $8,851 $8,347 -5.7% -21.2% -14.3% 53.7% 187.7%
Washington $2,637 $3,063 $7,032 $6,894 $7,420 $6,974 -6.0% 1.2% -0.8% 127.7% 164.5%
West Virginia $2,277 $5,316 $9,482 $9,537 $8,788 $7,437 -15.4% -22.0% -21.6% 39.9% 226.7%
Wisconsin $4,437 $4,850 $8,086 $8,485 $8,513 $8,407 -1.3% -0.9% 4.0% 73.3% 89.5%
Wyoming $2,995 $4,147 $3,797 $4,423 $4,017 $3,059 -23.8% -30.8% -19.4% -26.2% 2.1%
D.C. N/A N/A $7,471 $5,909 $4,083 $3,883 -4.9% -34.3% -48.0% N/A N/A
U.S. $2,808 $4,965 $8,119 $8,453 $7,728 $7,459 -3.5% -11.8% -8.1% 50.2% 165.7%
Notes:
  1. Net tuition revenue is calculated by taking the gross amount of tuition and fees, less state and institutional financial aid, tuition waivers or discounts, and medical student tuition and fees.
  2. The U.S. calculation does not include the District of Columbia. Data for the District of Columbia are not available prior to 2011.
  3. The years 1980 and 2001 are included in this table because they are the starting points of the historical SHEF dataset and modern SHEF data collection, respectively.
  4. Fiscal year 2025 net tuition and fee revenue is estimated for Alabama, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
  5. In fiscal year 2019, Mississippi changed the methodology for collecting four-year tuition and fee revenue; data prior to 2019 may not be comparable.
  6. Adjustment factors to arrive at constant dollar figures include Cost of Living Index (COLI), Enrollment Mix Index (EMI), and Higher Education Cost Adjustment (HECA). The COLI is not a measure of inflation over time.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association

2. Sector Comparisons

Table 4.1A presents new data on net tuition and fee revenue per FTE for the two- and four-year public sectors separately.

Net tuition and fee revenue at two-year institutions averaged $2,668 per FTE in 2025, down 5.0% ($141 per FTE) from 2024 and 19.7% ($655 per FTE) from 2019. In 2025, two-year net tuition revenue ranged from a low of $603 per FTE in California to $7,670 per FTE in South Dakota.

In the last year, per-FTE tuition revenue decreased at two-year institutions in 35 states. Massachusetts had the largest two-year tuition and fee revenue decline (59.0%) while Florida had the smallest (1.0%). Of the 14 states with increases, South Dakota had the smallest (0.1%) while Tennessee had the largest (113.6%).

At four-year institutions, tuition revenue declined 2.5%, averaging $10,505 per FTE. This is still 3.9 times the average net tuition and fee revenue per FTE in the two-year sector. Florida had the lowest four-year tuition and fee revenue ($2,296 per FTE) while Delaware had the highest ($26,304 per FTE).

From 2024 to 2025, four-year net tuition revenue decreased in 35 states and Washington, D.C. The largest percent decline was 14.0% (or $1,397 per FTE) in West Virginia, while Oregon had the smallest (0.2%, or $27 per FTE). Fifteen states had one-year increases that ranged from 0.1% (or $9 per FTE) in Georgia to 16.6% (or $654 per FTE) in New Mexico. 

Figure 4.1A displays the disparity in net tuition revenue per FTE between each state’s two- and four-year public sectors. On average, four-year institutions received 119.0% more tuition and fee revenue than two-year institutions. Only Florida is on the figure’s left side (the light blue bar), with 23.6% higher per-FTE net tuition and fee revenue in the two-year sector. All other states are on the figure’s right side (the dark blue bars), with relatively higher net tuition revenue per FTE in the four-year sector. Tennessee had the largest disparity in net tuition revenue across sectors, with 163.7% higher per-FTE net tuition and fee revenue in the four-year sector.

Figure 4.1A

Percent Difference in Two-Year and Four-Year Public Higher Education Net Tuition Revenue per FTE by State, FY 2025


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Notes:
  1. Net tuition revenue is calculated by taking the gross amount of tuition and fees, less state and institutional financial aid, tuition waivers or discounts, and medical student tuition and fees.
  2. Alaska and the District of Columbia are excluded from this figure because they do not have any public two-year institutions.
  3. Sector is determined at the institution level using the Carnegie Basic Classification (https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/). Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges and "less-than-two-year" degree-granting institutions not assigned a Carnegie classification are considered two-year institutions.
  4. In fiscal year 2025, sector-level FTE enrollment is estimated for Arkansas and Washington, and sector-level net tuition and fee revenue is estimated for Alabama, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association
Table 4.1A

Public Higher Education Net Tuition Revenue per FTE by Sector and State, FY 2019-2025 (Constant Adjusted Dollars)

Two-Year Tuition Revenue Four-Year Tuition Revenue
2019 2024 2025 % Change Since 2024 % Change Since 2019 2019 2024 2025 % Change Since 2024 % Change Since 2019
Alabama $6,637 $5,816 $5,744 -1.2% -13.5% $21,464 $20,799 $19,550 -6.0% -8.9%
Alaska $0 $0 $0 N/A N/A $5,667 $4,971 $4,562 -8.2% -19.5%
Arizona $2,514 $2,392 $2,524 5.5% 0.4% $15,862 $14,552 $13,982 -3.9% -11.8%
Arkansas $5,446 $5,112 $4,816 -5.8% -11.6% $9,821 $10,569 $9,355 -11.5% -4.7%
California $740 $621 $603 -2.9% -18.5% $7,780 $5,937 $5,764 -2.9% -25.9%
Colorado $5,205 $4,118 $4,599 11.7% -11.6% $16,863 $17,416 $16,979 -2.5% 0.7%
Connecticut $6,713 $5,984 $5,327 -11.0% -20.6% $16,441 $13,582 $13,335 -1.8% -18.9%
Delaware $6,953 $5,353 $5,693 6.4% -18.1% $28,589 $25,564 $26,304 2.9% -8.0%
Florida $3,314 $2,941 $2,910 -1.0% -12.2% $3,206 $2,275 $2,296 0.9% -28.4%
Georgia $3,755 $3,248 $3,344 3.0% -10.9% $7,206 $5,827 $5,835 0.1% -19.0%
Hawaii $2,992 $2,449 $2,146 -12.4% -28.3% $7,510 $6,558 $6,035 -8.0% -19.6%
Idaho $3,950 $3,245 $2,941 -9.4% -25.5% $10,330 $10,909 $11,283 3.4% 9.2%
Illinois $6,502 $5,763 $5,418 -6.0% -16.7% $12,926 $11,388 $11,114 -2.4% -14.0%
Indiana $4,263 $3,418 $3,342 -2.2% -21.6% $15,620 $15,042 $14,352 -4.6% -8.1%
Iowa $6,899 $6,436 $6,914 7.4% 0.2% $17,423 $17,002 $17,116 0.7% -1.8%
Kansas $3,593 $2,867 $2,736 -4.6% -23.9% $12,495 $11,239 $11,080 -1.4% -11.3%
Kentucky $5,704 $4,719 $4,558 -3.4% -20.1% $14,274 $12,618 $11,733 -7.0% -17.8%
Louisiana $4,849 $4,182 $3,611 -13.7% -25.5% $7,327 $6,601 $5,921 -10.3% -19.2%
Maine $3,536 $1,574 $2,112 34.1% -40.3% $10,005 $8,957 $8,734 -2.5% -12.7%
Maryland $4,656 $4,246 $4,088 -3.7% -12.2% $12,003 $10,421 $10,536 1.1% -12.2%
Massachusetts $3,823 $2,297 $942 -59.0% -75.4% $7,879 $9,041 $8,742 -3.3% 10.9%
Michigan $7,688 $6,519 $5,654 -13.3% -26.5% $22,797 $21,907 $21,376 -2.4% -6.2%
Minnesota $6,192 $5,660 $5,412 -4.4% -12.6% $15,286 $14,582 $14,359 -1.5% -6.1%
Mississippi $5,295 $5,121 $4,799 -6.3% -9.4% $14,096 $14,037 $14,342 2.2% 1.7%
Missouri $3,559 $4,647 $5,682 22.3% 59.6% $11,171 $11,659 $11,740 0.7% 5.1%
Montana $2,099 $1,772 $1,732 -2.3% -17.5% $10,608 $10,704 $10,726 0.2% 1.1%
Nebraska $3,434 $2,703 $2,621 -3.0% -23.7% $10,979 $9,279 $9,168 -1.2% -16.5%
Nevada $2,158 $2,242 $1,955 -12.8% -9.4% $3,801 $2,686 $2,636 -1.9% -30.6%
New Hampshire $6,120 $5,248 $4,908 -6.5% -19.8% $13,843 $11,911 $11,527 -3.2% -16.7%
New Jersey $3,490 $2,633 $2,453 -6.8% -29.7% $11,936 $9,652 $8,747 -9.4% -26.7%
New Mexico $2,513 $1,779 $1,657 -6.9% -34.1% $8,326 $3,931 $4,585 16.6% -44.9%
New York $5,029 $5,363 $5,029 -6.2% 0.0% $8,227 $7,408 $7,107 -4.1% -13.6%
North Carolina $2,267 $1,744 $1,415 -18.8% -37.6% $9,855 $8,661 $8,727 0.8% -11.4%
North Dakota $4,542 $3,584 $3,228 -9.9% -28.9% $12,524 $12,048 $11,159 -7.4% -10.9%
Ohio $4,711 $4,312 $3,832 -11.1% -18.6% $13,928 $14,056 $12,538 -10.8% -10.0%
Oklahoma $4,934 $3,621 $3,390 -6.4% -31.3% $12,099 $12,190 $11,023 -9.6% -8.9%
Oregon $3,790 $2,557 $2,675 4.6% -29.4% $14,134 $14,750 $14,723 -0.2% 4.2%
Pennsylvania $5,472 $5,180 $4,938 -4.7% -9.8% $17,014 $14,698 $13,984 -4.9% -17.8%
Rhode Island $5,896 $6,162 $6,361 3.2% 7.9% $10,817 $11,929 $10,607 -11.1% -1.9%
South Carolina $4,116 $4,642 $4,864 4.8% 18.2% $18,310 $15,249 $16,417 7.7% -10.3%
South Dakota $4,331 $7,660 $7,670 0.1% 77.1% $12,107 $10,269 $9,944 -3.2% -17.9%
Tennessee $2,271 $608 $1,299 113.6% -42.8% $12,526 $12,582 $13,006 3.4% 3.8%
Texas $2,638 $2,306 $2,151 -6.7% -18.5% $13,967 $12,614 $13,085 3.7% -6.3%
Utah $3,558 $2,979 $3,377 13.4% -5.1% $8,881 $8,854 $8,964 1.2% 0.9%
Vermont $7,298 $4,592 $4,823 5.0% -33.9% $20,975 $18,058 $17,850 -1.2% -14.9%
Virginia $4,810 $2,627 $2,434 -7.4% -49.4% $14,014 $11,965 $11,360 -5.1% -18.9%
Washington $2,950 $2,486 $2,153 -13.4% -27.0% $10,486 $12,691 $11,895 -6.3% 13.4%
West Virginia $4,908 $4,359 $3,445 -21.0% -29.8% $11,016 $9,963 $8,565 -14.0% -22.2%
Wisconsin $3,532 $2,673 $2,639 -1.3% -25.3% $10,966 $11,149 $11,084 -0.6% 1.1%
Wyoming $3,186 $3,431 $2,196 -36.0% -31.1% $5,708 $4,199 $3,910 -6.9% -31.5%
D.C. $0 $0 $0 N/A N/A $7,083 $3,895 $3,705 -4.9% -47.7%
U.S. $3,323 $2,809 $2,668 -5.0% -19.7% $11,841 $10,776 $10,505 -2.5% -11.3%
Notes:
  1. Net tuition revenue is calculated by taking the gross amount of tuition and fees, less state and institutional financial aid, tuition waivers or discounts, and medical student tuition and fees.
  2. The U.S. calculation does not include the District of Columbia. There are no two-year public institutions in Alaska or the District of Columbia.
  3. The year 2019 is included in this table because it is the starting point of the sector-level SHEF dataset.
  4. Sector is determined at the institution level using the Carnegie Basic Classification (https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/). Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges and "less-than-two-year" degree-granting institutions not assigned a Carnegie classification are considered two-year institutions.
  5. Fiscal year 2025 two- and four-year net tuition and fee revenue is estimated for Alabama, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
  6. In fiscal year 2019, Mississippi changed the methodology for collecting four-year tuition and fee revenue; data prior to 2019 may not be comparable.
  7. Adjustment factors to arrive at constant dollar figures include Cost of Living Index (COLI) and Higher Education Cost Adjustment (HECA). The COLI is not a measure of inflation over time. The Enrollment Mix Index (EMI) is not applied to sector-level data.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association

Total Education Revenue

Map 4.2

Total Education Revenue per FTE, FY 2025

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Total education revenue is the sum of education appropriations and net tuition, excluding net tuition revenue used for capital debt service. 

Total education revenue was $19,443 per FTE in 2025, a 1.9% (or $385 per FTE) decrease from 2024. This marks the third consecutive year of declines after 10 years of increases between 2013 and 2022. Overall, total education revenue has decreased 3.3% (or $657 per FTE) since the record high of $20,100 in 2022 but increased 3.9% (or $732 per FTE) since 2019, and 44.8% (or $6,012 per FTE) since the start of the SHEF dataset in 1980.

Near record high total revenue does not mean that all public institutions have more revenue than ever before. Following high levels of volatility in public funding as a result of two recessions in the early 2000s, institutions varied widely in their ability to increase tuition revenue (either by increasing rates or out-of-state enrollment). While total education revenue was still the fifth-highest on record in 2025, it was at an all-time high in only four states. Many institutions, particularly those most reliant on state funding and those with a more limited ability to raise tuition rates and attract out-of-state and international students, have not been able to increase tuition revenue to offset declines in state funding and are not at an all-time high for total education revenue. 24 24State Higher Education Executive Officers Association. (2021). Investigating the impacts of state higher education appropriations and financial aid. https://sheeo.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/SHEEO_ImpactAppropationsFinancialAid.pdf VIEW ALL FOOTNOTES

1. State Comparisons

In fiscal year 2025, total education revenue per FTE ranged from a low of $12,695 in Nevada to a high of $33,917 in Illinois (Figure 4.2). 25 25Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations, a primary component of total education revenue, in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details. VIEW ALL FOOTNOTES  

  • Public institutions in 23 states and Washington, D.C., had more than $20,000 per FTE in education revenue. Of these states, education revenues came mainly from tuition and fees in four states (Colorado, Delaware, Michigan, and Vermont). Education revenues came from mixed sources in six states (Alabama, Connecticut, Idaho, Minnesota, Missouri, and South Carolina), while revenues primarily came from education appropriations in the other 13 states and Washington, D.C.
  • Total education revenue per FTE decreased in 36 states and Washington, D.C., from 2024 to 2025 (Table 4.2). Declines ranged from 0.1% (or $19 per FTE) in South Dakota to 16.7% (or $4,352 per FTE) in Wyoming.
  • Total education revenue increased in the other 14 states in 2025. Year-over-year increases ranged from 0.2% (or $73 per FTE) in Illinois to 8.4% (or $1,621 per FTE) in Kansas.
  • Alaska, Louisiana, and Nevada were the only states in which inflation-adjusted total education revenue per FTE was lower in 2025 than in 1980, down 11.3%, 5.3%, and 4.8%, respectively.

Figure 4.2

Public Higher Education Total Education Revenue per FTE by State, FY 2025


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Notes:
  1. Total education revenue is the sum of education appropriations and net tuition, excluding net tuition revenue used for capital debt service. Total education revenue includes federal stimulus funding.
  2. The U.S. calculation does not include the District of Columbia.
  3. Fiscal year 2025 total education revenue includes estimated uncategorizable state support for South Carolina and South Dakota and estimated net tuition and fee revenue for Alabama, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
  4. Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations, a component of total education revenue, in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details.
  5. Constant dollars adjusted to the latest year of data available by the Higher Education Cost Adjustment (HECA).
  6. Adjusted to account for interstate differences using the Enrollment Mix Index (EMI).
  7. Adjusted to account for interstate differences using the Cost of Living Index (COLI). The COLI is not a measure of inflation over time.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association
Table 4.2

Public Higher Education Total Education Revenue per FTE by State, FY 1980-2025 (Constant Adjusted Dollars)

1980 2001 2015 2020 2024 2025 % Change Since 2024 % Change Since 2020 % Change Since 2015 % Change Since 2001 % Change Since 1980
Alabama $11,834 $17,745 $22,473 $25,702 $27,304 $25,430 -6.9% -1.1% 13.2% 43.3% 114.9%
Alaska $30,293 $20,739 $25,537 $25,865 $26,061 $26,876 3.1% 3.9% 5.2% 29.6% -11.3%
Arizona $11,943 $15,235 $16,752 $17,051 $16,821 $16,086 -4.4% -5.7% -4.0% 5.6% 34.7%
Arkansas $14,841 $16,259 $16,656 $16,220 $17,613 $16,046 -8.9% -1.1% -3.7% -1.3% 8.1%
California $10,714 $12,195 $12,752 $14,791 $15,375 $15,709 2.2% 6.2% 23.2% 28.8% 46.6%
Colorado $10,366 $13,616 $16,194 $18,843 $20,286 $20,507 1.1% 8.8% 26.6% 50.6% 97.8%
Connecticut $11,772 $24,316 $22,202 $24,955 $27,639 $25,767 -6.8% 3.3% 16.1% 6.0% 118.9%
Delaware $15,490 $24,148 $27,846 $31,577 $27,104 $27,791 2.5% -12.0% -0.2% 15.1% 79.4%
Florida $10,047 $15,889 $12,436 $12,579 $14,143 $14,023 -0.8% 11.5% 12.8% -11.7% 39.6%
Georgia $13,782 $20,463 $17,598 $18,891 $18,562 $17,924 -3.4% -5.1% 1.8% -12.4% 30.0%
Hawaii $12,022 $13,689 $16,893 $21,173 $20,966 $20,184 -3.7% -4.7% 19.5% 47.4% 67.9%
Idaho $17,347 $20,653 $20,310 $21,089 $21,483 $20,877 -2.8% -1.0% 2.8% 1.1% 20.4%
Illinois $13,288 $20,693 $28,325 $30,932 $33,844 $33,917 0.2% 9.7% 19.7% 63.9% 155.2%
Indiana $15,825 $19,413 $20,068 $20,258 $18,602 $17,528 -5.8% -13.5% -12.7% -9.7% 10.8%
Iowa $16,364 $20,878 $21,066 $19,816 $19,342 $19,903 2.9% 0.4% -5.5% -4.7% 21.6%
Kansas $15,021 $18,389 $17,208 $17,964 $19,224 $20,845 8.4% 16.0% 21.1% 13.4% 38.8%
Kentucky $15,727 $21,607 $20,936 $20,672 $20,387 $19,791 -2.9% -4.3% -5.5% -8.4% 25.8%
Louisiana $13,452 $13,153 $14,047 $13,716 $14,701 $12,737 -13.4% -7.1% -9.3% -3.2% -5.3%
Maine $11,434 $18,248 $16,730 $16,785 $16,136 $15,423 -4.4% -8.1% -7.8% -15.5% 34.9%
Maryland $11,651 $18,333 $17,607 $19,986 $22,377 $22,028 -1.6% 10.2% 25.1% 20.2% 89.1%
Massachusetts $12,321 $18,070 $15,368 $17,125 $21,878 $20,837 -4.8% 21.7% 35.6% 15.3% 69.1%
Michigan $17,190 $23,810 $25,325 $27,612 $28,811 $26,885 -6.7% -2.6% 6.2% 12.9% 56.4%
Minnesota $15,504 $18,230 $19,870 $22,582 $22,854 $21,866 -4.3% -3.2% 10.0% 19.9% 41.0%
Mississippi $14,060 $17,683 $17,382 $17,769 $19,228 $18,746 -2.5% 5.5% 7.8% 6.0% 33.3%
Missouri $16,310 $21,014 $19,178 $19,707 $20,561 $21,064 2.4% 6.9% 9.8% 0.2% 29.2%
Montana $11,466 $12,277 $14,996 $15,895 $16,115 $16,287 1.1% 2.5% 8.6% 32.7% 42.1%
Nebraska $13,542 $15,596 $19,649 $21,270 $20,395 $20,335 -0.3% -4.4% 3.5% 30.4% 50.2%
Nevada $13,332 $14,589 $12,850 $12,988 $13,159 $12,695 -3.5% -2.3% -1.2% -13.0% -4.8%
New Hampshire $12,068 $17,610 $16,253 $15,239 $14,514 $13,995 -3.6% -8.2% -13.9% -20.5% 16.0%
New Jersey $11,849 $20,900 $21,170 $18,419 $17,944 $16,515 -8.0% -10.3% -22.0% -21.0% 39.4%
New Mexico $15,295 $14,881 $17,875 $28,320 $27,100 $26,390 -2.6% -6.8% 47.6% 77.3% 72.5%
New York $16,281 $17,577 $19,864 $21,650 $22,800 $22,533 -1.2% 4.1% 13.4% 28.2% 38.4%
North Carolina $14,734 $19,644 $18,586 $18,953 $19,430 $17,312 -10.9% -8.7% -6.9% -11.9% 17.5%
North Dakota $12,864 $14,196 $21,137 $21,263 $20,822 $19,272 -7.4% -9.4% -8.8% 35.8% 49.8%
Ohio $14,664 $20,020 $19,499 $19,439 $19,608 $18,526 -5.5% -4.7% -5.0% -7.5% 26.3%
Oklahoma $12,710 $15,840 $17,985 $19,178 $19,401 $18,023 -7.1% -6.0% 0.2% 13.8% 41.8%
Oregon $11,519 $14,623 $14,876 $17,924 $18,878 $18,493 -2.0% 3.2% 24.3% 26.5% 60.5%
Pennsylvania $17,428 $23,120 $19,202 $20,296 $19,450 $18,774 -3.5% -7.5% -2.2% -18.8% 7.7%
Rhode Island $16,040 $19,026 $15,871 $16,472 $19,072 $17,924 -6.0% 8.8% 12.9% -5.8% 11.7%
South Carolina $14,372 $15,335 $17,581 $20,332 $20,436 $21,630 5.8% 6.4% 23.0% 41.1% 50.5%
South Dakota $15,462 $17,202 $17,073 $19,924 $19,901 $19,881 -0.1% -0.2% 16.4% 15.6% 28.6%
Tennessee $13,799 $16,865 $19,592 $21,121 $23,066 $23,570 2.2% 11.6% 20.3% 39.8% 70.8%
Texas $12,225 $17,517 $16,428 $22,388 $22,856 $23,047 0.8% 2.9% 40.3% 31.6% 88.5%
Utah $14,687 $13,905 $16,498 $18,373 $20,911 $19,880 -4.9% 8.2% 20.5% 43.0% 35.4%
Vermont $14,415 $20,795 $21,931 $22,989 $21,794 $21,637 -0.7% -5.9% -1.3% 4.0% 50.1%
Virginia $12,060 $16,832 $16,261 $19,233 $19,009 $19,807 4.2% 3.0% 21.8% 17.7% 64.2%
Washington $12,969 $13,004 $14,398 $16,964 $20,854 $21,383 2.5% 26.1% 48.5% 64.4% 64.9%
West Virginia $11,964 $13,550 $15,499 $16,128 $15,015 $14,462 -3.7% -10.3% -6.7% 6.7% 20.9%
Wisconsin $16,874 $18,763 $18,297 $18,613 $18,819 $18,362 -2.4% -1.3% 0.4% -2.1% 8.8%
Wyoming $21,377 $19,163 $25,287 $27,105 $26,068 $21,716 -16.7% -19.9% -14.1% 13.3% 1.6%
D.C. N/A N/A $27,349 $35,228 $26,666 $25,731 -3.5% -27.0% -5.9% N/A N/A
U.S. $13,431 $17,109 $17,445 $19,148 $19,828 $19,443 -1.9% 1.5% 11.5% 13.6% 44.8%
Notes:
  1. Total education revenue is the sum of education appropriations and net tuition, excluding net tuition revenue used for capital debt service. Total education revenue includes federal stimulus funding.
  2. The U.S. calculation does not include the District of Columbia. Data for the District of Columbia are not available prior to 2011.
  3. The years 1980 and 2001 are included in this table because they are the starting points of the historical SHEF dataset and modern SHEF data collection, respectively.
  4. Fiscal year 2025 total education revenue includes estimated uncategorizable state support for South Carolina and South Dakota and estimated net tuition and fee revenue for Alabama, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
  5. Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations, a component of total education revenue, in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details.
  6. Texas developed a new methodology to capture state funding to institutions of higher education and updated FTE enrollment starting in 2017. Years prior to 2017 do not reflect this new methodology, which may affect some year-to-year comparisons.
  7. Adjustment factors to arrive at constant dollar figures include Cost of Living Index (COLI), Enrollment Mix Index (EMI), and Higher Education Cost Adjustment (HECA). The COLI is not a measure of inflation over time.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association

2. Sector Comparisons

Table 4.2A presents new data on total education revenue per FTE for the two- and four-year public sectors separately.

At two-year public institutions, total education revenue averaged $13,722 per FTE, down 2.6% from 2024. Total revenue ranged from $8,097 in New Jersey to $24,391 in Illinois. 26 26Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations, a primary component of total education revenue, in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details. VIEW ALL FOOTNOTES

Two-year total education revenue per FTE declined in 35 states from 2024 to 2025. Decreases ranged from 1.4% (or $198 per FTE) in Pennsylvania to 20.4% (or $3,733 per FTE) in Wyoming. Of the 14 states with increases, year-over-year percent changes ranged from 0.6% (or $80 per FTE) in Rhode Island to 8.5% (or $1,040 per FTE) in Vermont.

Total education revenue per FTE at four-year institutions averaged $21,508 in 2025, a 1.5% decrease from 2024. Four-year institutions had, on average, 1.6 times the amount of total revenue per FTE of two-year institutions. Louisiana had the lowest revenue of $13,262 per FTE. While 35 states and Washington, D.C., had total revenue greater than $20,000, Delaware, Michigan, and Illinois exceeded $30,000, with Illinois reaching a high of $38,457 per FTE. 27 27Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations, a primary component of total education revenue, in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details. VIEW ALL FOOTNOTES

Between 2024 and 2025, four-year total education revenue per FTE decreased in 31 states and Washington, D.C. Declines ranged from 0.2% (or $44 per FTE) in Idaho to 7.9% (or $1,534 per FTE) in Rhode Island. Year-over-year increases in the other 19 states ranged from 0.1% (or $12 per FTE) in Texas to 8.5% (or $2,018 per FTE) in South Carolina.

Figure 4.2A displays the disparity in total education revenue per FTE between each state’s two-year and four-year public sectors. In 2025, total education revenue per FTE was higher in the four-year sector in every state. Because of this, no states are represented by light blue bars on the left side of the figure, which would have indicated total education revenue was higher in the two-year sector. Instead, all states are represented by dark blue bars due to having comparatively higher total education revenue per FTE in the four-year sector. On average, total education revenue per FTE was 44.2% higher in the four-year sector than in the two-year sector. North Carolina had the largest disparity in total education revenue across sectors, where four-year institutions had 91.5% higher revenue per FTE than two-year institutions.

Figure 4.2A

Percent Difference in Two-Year and Four-Year Public Higher Education Total Education Revenue per FTE by State, FY 2025


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Notes:
  1. Total education revenue is the sum of education appropriations and net tuition, excluding net tuition revenue used for capital debt service. Sector-level total education revenue includes any portion of federal stimulus funding allocated specifically to each sector.
  2. Alaska and the District of Columbia are excluded from this figure because they do not have any public two-year institutions.
  3. Sector is determined at the institution level using the Carnegie Basic Classification (https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/). Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges and "less-than-two-year" degree-granting institutions not assigned a Carnegie classification are considered two-year institutions.
  4. Fiscal year 2025 sector-level total education revenue includes estimated two- and four-year net tuition and fee revenue for Alabama, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
  5. Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations, a component of total education revenue, in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details.
  6. In 2025, total education revenue per FTE was higher in the public four-year sector than in the public two-year sector. Therefore, no states are represented by light blue bars that would have appeared on the left side of this figure had there been any states in which total education revenue per FTE was higher in the two-year sector.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association
Table 4.2A

Public Higher Education Total Education Revenue per FTE by Sector and State, FY 2019-2025 (Constant Adjusted Dollars)

Two-Year Total Revenue Four-Year Total Revenue
2019 2024 2025 % Change Since 2024 % Change Since 2019 2019 2024 2025 % Change Since 2024 % Change Since 2019
Alabama $14,770 $18,511 $16,750 -9.5% 13.4% $28,637 $31,398 $29,625 -5.6% 3.5%
Alaska $0 $0 $0 N/A N/A $24,462 $25,044 $25,827 3.1% 5.6%
Arizona $14,114 $14,445 $14,665 1.5% 3.9% $19,465 $18,437 $17,075 -7.4% -12.3%
Arkansas $14,523 $14,686 $14,201 -3.3% -2.2% $18,289 $17,192 $16,336 -5.0% -10.7%
California $11,155 $11,390 $12,312 8.1% 10.4% $17,797 $17,307 $16,872 -2.5% -5.2%
Colorado $12,489 $14,178 $14,928 5.3% 19.5% $21,867 $23,921 $23,834 -0.4% 9.0%
Connecticut $17,338 $21,783 $21,100 -3.1% 21.7% $28,150 $29,227 $27,600 -5.6% -2.0%
Delaware $17,830 $17,347 $17,450 0.6% -2.1% $34,983 $31,408 $32,487 3.4% -7.1%
Florida $9,072 $10,220 $9,476 -7.3% 4.5% $17,492 $18,647 $19,296 3.5% 10.3%
Georgia $12,142 $12,382 $11,985 -3.2% -1.3% $19,574 $19,495 $18,869 -3.2% -3.6%
Hawaii $15,592 $16,503 $15,995 -3.1% 2.6% $23,324 $21,568 $20,715 -4.0% -11.2%
Idaho $11,125 $10,660 $9,423 -11.6% -15.3% $21,072 $21,034 $20,990 -0.2% -0.4%
Illinois $21,414 $25,564 $24,391 -4.6% 13.9% $35,493 $37,650 $38,457 2.1% 8.4%
Indiana $11,132 $9,391 $8,745 -6.9% -21.4% $23,754 $22,288 $21,333 -4.3% -10.2%
Iowa $12,573 $13,025 $13,911 6.8% 10.6% $25,595 $24,940 $24,841 -0.4% -2.9%
Kansas $14,179 $16,164 $15,362 -5.0% 8.3% $19,831 $21,028 $21,703 3.2% 9.4%
Kentucky $12,799 $12,145 $9,751 -19.7% -23.8% $23,625 $23,396 $23,090 -1.3% -2.3%
Louisiana $9,299 $9,435 $8,680 -8.0% -6.7% $15,032 $14,353 $13,262 -7.6% -11.8%
Maine $12,441 $10,686 $10,166 -4.9% -18.3% $18,782 $19,216 $17,863 -7.0% -4.9%
Maryland $13,889 $15,870 $14,928 -5.9% 7.5% $21,731 $25,398 $25,480 0.3% 17.2%
Massachusetts $11,879 $16,144 $13,512 -16.3% 13.7% $17,949 $23,882 $24,026 0.6% 33.9%
Michigan $19,508 $23,138 $20,155 -12.9% 3.3% $30,663 $30,642 $30,398 -0.8% -0.9%
Minnesota $14,272 $16,005 $14,979 -6.4% 5.0% $25,004 $26,031 $25,483 -2.1% 1.9%
Mississippi $12,384 $13,575 $13,296 -2.1% 7.4% $22,083 $23,911 $23,226 -2.9% 5.2%
Missouri $11,723 $18,443 $19,312 4.7% 64.7% $20,137 $20,680 $20,990 1.5% 4.2%
Montana $8,750 $8,722 $8,458 -3.0% -3.3% $18,151 $18,881 $18,959 0.4% 4.5%
Nebraska $16,933 $17,815 $17,547 -1.5% 3.6% $22,219 $21,571 $21,710 0.6% -2.3%
Nevada $9,525 $11,028 $10,604 -3.8% 11.3% $14,733 $13,980 $14,032 0.4% -4.8%
New Hampshire $11,598 $13,734 $13,253 -3.5% 14.3% $16,610 $15,589 $15,050 -3.5% -9.4%
New Jersey $8,464 $8,589 $8,097 -5.7% -4.3% $21,111 $21,703 $20,315 -6.4% -3.8%
New Mexico $15,628 $22,620 $21,611 -4.5% 38.3% $28,195 $25,579 $25,628 0.2% -9.1%
New York $15,758 $17,671 $16,776 -5.1% 6.5% $24,331 $24,759 $24,805 0.2% 1.9%
North Carolina $12,079 $11,604 $9,252 -20.3% -23.4% $24,948 $25,184 $24,850 -1.3% -0.4%
North Dakota $13,286 $12,501 $11,339 -9.3% -14.7% $21,538 $21,896 $20,407 -6.8% -5.2%
Ohio $14,056 $13,629 $13,396 -1.7% -4.7% $21,299 $22,013 $20,467 -7.0% -3.9%
Oklahoma $12,144 $12,892 $12,219 -5.2% 0.6% $20,400 $21,327 $19,677 -7.7% -3.5%
Oregon $12,438 $15,223 $14,266 -6.3% 14.7% $19,699 $21,174 $21,254 0.4% 7.9%
Pennsylvania $12,072 $13,668 $13,470 -1.4% 11.6% $23,073 $21,567 $20,817 -3.5% -9.8%
Rhode Island $12,383 $14,350 $14,430 0.6% 16.5% $16,817 $19,407 $17,873 -7.9% 6.3%
South Carolina $11,999 $13,697 $13,801 0.8% 15.0% $23,618 $23,769 $25,787 8.5% 9.2%
South Dakota $10,195 $13,376 $13,612 1.8% 33.5% $18,696 $18,800 $18,321 -2.5% -2.0%
Tennessee $13,090 $15,897 $16,262 2.3% 24.2% $24,425 $25,884 $26,346 1.8% 7.9%
Texas $12,757 $14,389 $13,834 -3.9% 8.4% $22,545 $20,361 $20,373 0.1% -9.6%
Utah $14,695 $17,324 $17,500 1.0% 19.1% $18,474 $21,859 $20,777 -4.9% 12.5%
Vermont $10,520 $12,174 $13,215 8.5% 25.6% $23,450 $22,291 $21,944 -1.6% -6.4%
Virginia $10,664 $10,775 $11,037 2.4% 3.5% $21,696 $22,551 $23,813 5.6% 9.8%
Washington $10,878 $14,448 $15,035 4.1% 38.2% $20,395 $26,375 $26,706 1.3% 30.9%
West Virginia $13,152 $14,493 $13,671 -5.7% 3.9% $16,152 $15,366 $14,880 -3.2% -7.9%
Wisconsin $17,878 $17,665 $16,738 -5.2% -6.4% $17,649 $18,424 $18,242 -1.0% 3.4%
Wyoming $23,358 $18,274 $14,541 -20.4% -37.7% $28,200 $31,018 $28,872 -6.9% 2.4%
D.C. $0 $0 $0 N/A N/A $28,840 $25,440 $24,549 -3.5% -14.9%
U.S. $12,978 $14,082 $13,722 -2.6% 5.7% $21,556 $21,841 $21,508 -1.5% -0.2%
Notes:
  1. Total education revenue is the sum of education appropriations and net tuition, excluding net tuition revenue used for capital debt service. Sector-level total education revenue includes any portion of federal stimulus funding allocated specifically to each sector.
  2. The U.S. calculation does not include the District of Columbia. There are no two-year public institutions in Alaska or the District of Columbia.
  3. The year 2019 is included in this table because it is the starting point of the sector-level SHEF dataset.
  4. Sector is determined at the institution level using the Carnegie Basic Classification (https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/). Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges and "less-than-two-year" degree-granting institutions not assigned a Carnegie classification are considered two-year institutions.
  5. Fiscal year 2025 sector-level total education revenue includes estimated two- and four-year net tuition and fee revenue for Alabama, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
  6. Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details.
  7. Adjustment factors to arrive at constant dollar figures include Cost of Living Index (COLI) and Higher Education Cost Adjustment (HECA). The COLI is not a measure of inflation over time. The Enrollment Mix Index (EMI) is not applied to sector-level data.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association

Student Share

Map 4.3

Student Share, FY 2025

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Net tuition as a percentage of total education revenue (the student share) shows the overall reliance of public institutions on tuition as a revenue source. Net tuition excludes state and institutional financial aid but does not exclude federal financial aid or loans.

The student share has increased substantially over time due to volatility in education appropriations and net tuition revenue increases. In 1980 (the earliest available data), the student share was 20.9%. By 2001 (the start of the modern SHEF data collection and a pre-recession high point in education appropriations), the student share had already increased to 29.0%. For just the second time since 2010, the U.S. average student share was below 40%, decreasing to 38.4% in 2025. This means that, on average, 38.4% of revenues at public institutions came from student tuition and fees.

1. State Comparisons

There is wide variation in the student share across states. In fiscal years 2019 and 2020, the student share was above 50% in at least half of all states (26 states in 2019 and 25 in 2020). Starting in 2022, the student share was greater than 50% in less than half (23) of states. In each subsequent year, the number of states with a student share greater than 50% has continued to decrease, falling to 18 states in 2025 (Figure 4.3).  

From 2024 to 2025, the student share decreased in 26 states and Washington, D.C., and increased in 24 states. Declines in the student share ranged from 0.2 percentage points in Washington, D.C., and 0.3 percentage points in Delaware to 7.1 percentage points in West Virginia. Student share increases ranged from 0.1 percentage points in Vermont to 3.1 percentage points in Arizona (Table 4.3).

The student share in 2025 was less than it was in 2020, five years before, in all but five states (Arizona, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin). Only six states had a lower student share in 2025 than in 2001 (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and Wyoming) and three had a lower student share in 2024 than in 1980 (Florida, Nevada, and New Mexico).

Figure 4.3

Net Tuition as a Percentage of Total Education Revenue by State, FY 2025 (Adjusted)


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Notes:
  1. The student share is a measure of the proportion of total education revenue at public institutions coming from net tuition revenue. Net tuition revenue used for capital debt service is included in net tuition revenue, but excluded from total education revenue in calculating the above figures. Total education revenue includes federal stimulus funding.
  2. Fiscal year 2025 student share includes estimated uncategorizable state support for South Carolina and South Dakota, estimated public financial aid for Nevada and Pennsylvania, and estimated net tuition and fee revenue for Alabama, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
  3. Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations, a component of total education revenue, in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association
Table 4.3

Net Tuition as a Percentage of Total Education Revenue by State, FY 1980-2025

1980 2001 2015 2020 2024 2025 Change Since 2024 Change Since 2020 Change Since 2015 Change Since 2001 Change Since 1980
Alabama 26.7% 42.4% 69.2% 66.7% 58.9% 59.4% 0.5 -7.3 -9.8 17.0 32.7
Alaska 9.4% 18.2% 20.6% 23.3% 19.8% 17.6% -2.2 -5.7 -3.0 -0.6 8.2
Arizona 21.3% 32.8% 58.0% 61.0% 62.0% 65.0% 3.1 4.1 7.1 32.2 43.8
Arkansas 23.5% 25.4% 44.8% 53.2% 51.4% 50.5% -1.0 -2.7 5.7 25.1 27.0
California 7.5% 10.8% 25.2% 25.9% 19.7% 18.7% -1.0 -7.3 -6.5 7.9 11.2
Colorado 36.6% 41.6% 69.5% 66.7% 62.1% 61.3% -0.8 -5.4 -8.2 19.7 24.7
Connecticut 21.4% 25.4% 49.4% 54.4% 39.8% 41.4% 1.6 -13.0 -8.0 16.0 20.0
Delaware 37.9% 53.9% 74.3% 74.6% 74.8% 74.5% -0.3 -0.1 0.2 20.6 36.6
Florida 20.1% 23.4% 35.1% 23.0% 17.8% 18.0% 0.2 -5.0 -17.1 -5.4 -2.1
Georgia 18.2% 15.1% 37.8% 33.5% 28.0% 29.1% 1.1 -4.4 -8.7 14.0 10.8
Hawaii 8.5% 19.6% 32.9% 25.3% 23.5% 22.2% -1.3 -3.0 -10.7 2.7 13.7
Idaho 14.4% 23.5% 48.2% 45.6% 42.5% 44.2% 1.7 -1.4 -4.0 20.7 29.7
Illinois 16.4% 18.6% 34.1% 31.8% 27.2% 26.2% -1.0 -5.6 -7.9 7.6 9.8
Indiana 27.6% 41.4% 62.1% 62.0% 62.6% 62.9% 0.3 0.9 0.8 21.5 35.3
Iowa 24.5% 35.2% 59.7% 62.7% 62.7% 63.3% 0.7 0.7 3.7 28.2 38.8
Kansas 23.2% 28.4% 50.7% 49.5% 41.6% 37.5% -4.2 -12.0 -13.2 9.1 14.3
Kentucky 20.6% 29.8% 55.8% 56.4% 49.9% 47.8% -2.1 -8.7 -8.1 18.0 27.1
Louisiana 18.5% 26.3% 46.5% 46.3% 40.8% 41.9% 1.1 -4.4 -4.6 15.6 23.4
Maine 32.1% 37.2% 51.1% 47.4% 39.7% 41.5% 1.8 -5.9 -9.6 4.3 9.3
Maryland 26.4% 37.2% 49.9% 46.6% 37.4% 37.9% 0.5 -8.7 -12.0 0.8 11.6
Massachusetts 22.8% 29.0% 42.7% 40.2% 32.2% 29.7% -2.5 -10.5 -13.0 0.7 6.9
Michigan 29.7% 37.7% 66.3% 66.4% 59.3% 60.4% 1.2 -6.0 -5.9 22.7 30.7
Minnesota 18.4% 29.7% 57.6% 52.8% 48.3% 48.9% 0.7 -3.8 -8.7 19.2 30.5
Mississippi 25.8% 28.1% 48.2% 55.1% 51.7% 53.2% 1.6 -1.9 5.0 25.1 27.5
Missouri 22.0% 27.5% 49.2% 46.4% 47.6% 47.9% 0.3 1.5 -1.3 20.4 25.9
Montana 20.8% 42.9% 53.0% 52.6% 52.5% 51.9% -0.6 -0.7 -1.1 8.9 31.1
Nebraska 22.3% 32.8% 40.2% 40.4% 34.8% 33.9% -0.9 -6.5 -6.3 1.1 11.6
Nevada 19.0% 22.4% 34.6% 23.4% 18.4% 18.0% -0.4 -5.4 -16.5 -4.3 -1.0
New Hampshire 54.3% 65.4% 72.4% 73.5% 67.8% 67.4% -0.4 -6.0 -4.9 2.1 13.1
New Jersey 19.9% 38.6% 56.3% 47.0% 40.2% 38.3% -1.9 -8.7 -18.0 -0.4 18.4
New Mexico 16.1% 12.5% 20.6% 20.6% 11.3% 12.8% 1.5 -7.8 -7.8 0.2 -3.4
New York 19.6% 29.7% 35.7% 32.8% 29.8% 28.8% -1.1 -4.0 -6.9 -0.9 9.2
North Carolina 16.5% 18.9% 33.8% 32.4% 28.4% 29.1% 0.7 -3.3 -4.7 10.2 12.7
North Dakota 22.6% 40.4% 46.4% 51.5% 48.1% 47.8% -0.3 -3.7 1.3 7.4 25.2
Ohio 32.8% 40.9% 60.4% 60.2% 57.2% 54.9% -2.3 -5.3 -5.5 14.0 22.1
Oklahoma 19.8% 21.3% 44.0% 53.1% 49.1% 48.0% -1.1 -5.1 4.0 26.6 28.2
Oregon 24.8% 35.9% 65.1% 57.1% 52.9% 53.6% 0.7 -3.5 -11.5 17.7 28.8
Pennsylvania 32.0% 48.7% 70.3% 66.8% 63.7% 61.5% -2.1 -5.3 -8.8 12.8 29.5
Rhode Island 23.4% 44.0% 62.1% 62.1% 57.2% 55.6% -1.6 -6.5 -6.5 11.5 32.2
South Carolina 19.4% 38.1% 66.6% 63.7% 56.2% 56.8% 0.6 -6.9 -9.8 18.7 37.4
South Dakota 27.4% 46.0% 59.4% 55.5% 51.3% 50.0% -1.3 -5.5 -9.5 3.9 22.5
Tennessee 22.5% 33.6% 48.3% 39.5% 36.3% 37.8% 1.5 -1.6 -10.5 4.3 15.3
Texas 18.6% 34.0% 40.7% 39.8% 35.2% 35.4% 0.2 -4.4 -5.3 1.4 16.8
Utah 19.9% 26.6% 45.4% 42.7% 36.2% 38.9% 2.7 -3.8 -6.5 12.3 18.9
Vermont 62.3% 76.8% 87.0% 84.1% 77.5% 77.6% 0.1 -6.5 -9.4 0.8 15.3
Virginia 24.1% 32.3% 59.9% 55.0% 46.6% 42.1% -4.4 -12.9 -17.7 9.9 18.1
Washington 20.3% 23.6% 48.8% 40.6% 35.6% 32.6% -3.0 -8.0 -16.2 9.1 12.3
West Virginia 19.0% 39.2% 61.2% 59.1% 58.5% 51.4% -7.1 -7.7 -9.8 12.2 32.4
Wisconsin 26.3% 25.8% 44.2% 45.6% 45.2% 45.8% 0.5 0.2 1.6 19.9 19.5
Wyoming 14.0% 21.6% 15.0% 16.3% 15.4% 14.1% -1.3 -2.2 -0.9 -7.6 0.1
D.C. N/A N/A 27.3% 16.8% 15.3% 15.1% -0.2 -1.7 -12.2 N/A N/A
U.S. 20.9% 29.0% 46.5% 44.1% 39.0% 38.4% -0.6 -5.8 -8.2 9.3 17.5
Notes:
  1. The student share is a measure of the proportion of total education revenue at public institutions coming from net tuition revenue. Net tuition revenue used for capital debt service is included in net tuition revenue but excluded from total education revenue in calculating the above figures. Total education revenue includes federal stimulus funding.
  2. Year change columns show percentage point increases or decreases, not percent change.
  3. The U.S. calculation does not include the District of Columbia. Data for the District of Columbia are not available prior to 2011.
  4. The years 1980 and 2001 are included in this table because they are the starting points of the historical SHEF dataset and modern SHEF data collection, respectively.
  5. Fiscal year 2025 student share includes estimated uncategorizable state support for South Carolina and South Dakota estimated net tuition and fee revenue for Alabama, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
  6. Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations, a component of total education revenue, in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details.
  7. Texas developed a new methodology to capture state funding to institutions of higher education and updated FTE enrollment starting in 2017. Years prior to 2017 do not reflect this new methodology, which may affect some year-to-year comparisons.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association

2. Sector Comparisons

The student share is one of the most varied SHEF metrics when comparing two- and four-year public institutions. At two-year institutions, the fiscal year 2025 student share was less than one-fifth (19.4%); it was just under half (48.8%) at four-year institutions (Table 4.3A).

  • The student share at two-year institutions is generally between 15% and 50%. California, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and Tennessee were the only states that reported student shares of less than 10%. Only one state, South Dakota (56.4%), had a two-year student share greater than 50%.
  • At four-year institutions, student share ranged from 11.9% in Florida to 81.9% in Arizona in 2025. The four-year student share was greater than 50% in 28 states.

Figure 4.3A shows the difference between the student share at each state’s two- and four-year public institutions. On the figure’s left side, the light blue bars show states with a higher two-year student share. Most states have a higher four-year student share (the dark blue bars). On average, the four-year student share was 29.4 percentage points above the two-year student share. The four-year student share was greater than the two-year student share in all but four states: Florida, New York, South Dakota, and Wyoming. This means that in those four states, students at two-year institutions were responsible for a greater portion of public institutional revenue at two-year institutions than students attending four-year institutions. Arizona had the greatest difference in student share across institution types, where the four-year student share of 81.9% was 64.7 percentage points higher than the two-year student share of 17.2%.

Figure 4.3A

Difference in Two-Year and Four-Year Net Tuition as a Percentage of Total Education Revenue by State, FY 2025


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Notes:
  1. The student share is a measure of the proportion of total education revenue at public institutions coming from net tuition revenue. Net tuition revenue used for capital debt service is included in net tuition revenue, but excluded from total education revenue in calculating the above figures. Total education revenue includes federal stimulus funding.
  2. Percentage point differences show the number of percentage points by which the student share is higher at either two- or four-year institutions, not the percent difference between the two.
  3. Alaska and the District of Columbia are excluded from this figure because they do not have any public two-year institutions.
  4. Sector is determined at the institution level using the Carnegie Basic Classification (https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/). Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges and "less-than-two-year" degree-granting institutions not assigned a Carnegie classification are considered two-year institutions.
  5. Fiscal year 2025 sector-level student share includes estimated net tuition and fee revenue for Alabama, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania and estimated sector-level public financial aid for Nevada and Pennsylvania.
  6. Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations, a component of total education revenue, in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association
Table 4.3A

Net Tuition as a Percentage of Total Education Revenue by Sector and State, FY 2019-2025

Two-Year Student Share Four-Year Student Share
2019 2024 2025 Change Since 2024 Change Since 2019 2019 2024 2025 Change Since 2024 Change Since 2019
Alabama 44.9% 31.4% 34.3% 2.9 -10.6 75.0% 66.2% 66.0% -0.3 -9.0
Alaska N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 23.2% 19.8% 17.7% -2.2 -5.5
Arizona 17.8% 16.6% 17.2% 0.7 -0.6 81.5% 78.9% 81.9% 3.0 0.4
Arkansas 37.5% 34.8% 33.9% -0.9 -3.6 53.7% 61.5% 57.3% -4.2 3.6
California 6.6% 5.5% 4.9% -0.6 -1.7 43.7% 34.3% 34.2% -0.1 -9.6
Colorado 41.7% 29.0% 30.8% 1.8 -10.9 77.1% 72.8% 71.2% -1.6 -5.9
Connecticut 38.7% 27.5% 25.2% -2.2 -13.5 58.4% 46.5% 48.3% 1.8 -10.1
Delaware 39.0% 30.9% 32.6% 1.8 -6.4 81.7% 81.4% 81.0% -0.4 -0.8
Florida 36.5% 28.8% 30.7% 1.9 -5.8 18.3% 12.2% 11.9% -0.3 -6.4
Georgia 30.9% 26.2% 27.9% 1.7 -3.0 36.8% 29.9% 30.9% 1.0 -5.9
Hawaii 19.2% 14.8% 13.4% -1.4 -5.8 32.2% 30.4% 29.1% -1.3 -3.1
Idaho 35.5% 30.4% 31.2% 0.8 -4.3 49.0% 51.9% 53.8% 1.9 4.7
Illinois 30.4% 22.5% 22.2% -0.3 -8.2 36.4% 30.2% 28.9% -1.3 -7.5
Indiana 38.3% 36.4% 38.2% 1.8 -0.1 65.8% 67.5% 67.3% -0.2 1.5
Iowa 54.9% 49.4% 49.7% 0.3 -5.2 68.1% 68.2% 68.9% 0.7 0.8
Kansas 25.3% 17.7% 17.8% 0.1 -7.5 63.0% 53.4% 51.1% -2.4 -12.0
Kentucky 44.6% 38.9% 46.7% 7.9 2.2 60.4% 53.9% 50.8% -3.1 -9.6
Louisiana 52.1% 44.3% 41.6% -2.7 -10.5 48.7% 46.0% 44.6% -1.3 -4.1
Maine 28.4% 14.7% 20.8% 6.0 -7.6 53.3% 46.6% 48.9% 2.3 -4.4
Maryland 33.5% 26.8% 27.4% 0.6 -6.1 55.2% 41.0% 41.3% 0.3 -13.9
Massachusetts 32.2% 14.2% 7.0% -7.3 -25.2 43.9% 37.9% 36.4% -1.5 -7.5
Michigan 39.4% 28.2% 28.1% -0.1 -11.4 74.3% 71.5% 70.3% -1.2 -4.0
Minnesota 43.4% 35.4% 36.1% 0.8 -7.3 61.1% 56.0% 56.3% 0.3 -4.8
Mississippi 42.8% 37.7% 36.1% -1.6 -6.7 63.8% 58.7% 61.8% 3.0 -2.1
Missouri 30.4% 25.2% 29.4% 4.2 -0.9 55.5% 56.4% 55.9% -0.4 0.5
Montana 24.0% 20.3% 20.5% 0.2 -3.5 58.4% 56.7% 56.6% -0.1 -1.9
Nebraska 20.3% 15.2% 14.9% -0.2 -5.3 49.4% 43.0% 42.2% -0.8 -7.2
Nevada 22.7% 20.3% 18.4% -1.9 -4.2 25.8% 19.2% 18.8% -0.4 -7.0
New Hampshire 52.8% 38.2% 37.0% -1.2 -15.7 83.3% 76.4% 76.6% 0.2 -6.8
New Jersey 41.2% 30.7% 30.3% -0.4 -10.9 56.5% 44.5% 43.1% -1.4 -13.5
New Mexico 16.1% 7.9% 7.7% -0.2 -8.4 29.5% 15.4% 17.9% 2.5 -11.6
New York 31.9% 30.3% 30.0% -0.4 -1.9 33.8% 29.9% 28.6% -1.3 -5.2
North Carolina 18.8% 15.0% 15.3% 0.3 -3.5 39.5% 34.4% 35.1% 0.7 -4.4
North Dakota 34.2% 28.7% 28.5% -0.2 -5.7 58.2% 55.0% 54.7% -0.3 -3.5
Ohio 33.5% 31.6% 28.6% -3.0 -4.9 65.4% 63.9% 61.3% -2.6 -4.1
Oklahoma 40.6% 28.1% 27.7% -0.3 -12.9 59.3% 57.2% 56.0% -1.1 -3.3
Oregon 30.5% 16.8% 18.8% 2.0 -11.7 71.7% 69.7% 69.3% -0.4 -2.5
Pennsylvania 45.3% 37.9% 36.7% -1.2 -8.7 73.7% 68.1% 67.2% -1.0 -6.6
Rhode Island 47.6% 42.9% 44.1% 1.1 -3.5 64.3% 61.5% 59.3% -2.1 -5.0
South Carolina 34.3% 33.9% 35.2% 1.4 0.9 77.5% 64.2% 63.7% -0.5 -13.9
South Dakota 42.5% 57.3% 56.4% -0.9 13.9 64.8% 54.6% 54.3% -0.3 -10.5
Tennessee 17.3% 3.8% 8.0% 4.2 -9.4 51.3% 48.6% 49.4% 0.8 -1.9
Texas 20.7% 16.0% 15.5% -0.5 -5.1 62.0% 62.0% 64.2% 2.3 2.3
Utah 24.2% 17.2% 19.3% 2.1 -4.9 48.1% 40.5% 43.1% 2.6 -4.9
Vermont 69.4% 37.7% 36.5% -1.2 -32.9 89.4% 81.0% 81.3% 0.3 -8.1
Virginia 45.1% 24.4% 22.1% -2.3 -23.0 64.6% 53.1% 47.7% -5.4 -16.9
Washington 27.1% 17.2% 14.3% -2.9 -12.8 51.4% 48.1% 44.5% -3.6 -6.9
West Virginia 37.3% 30.1% 25.2% -4.9 -12.1 68.2% 64.8% 57.6% -7.3 -10.6
Wisconsin 19.8% 15.1% 15.8% 0.6 -4.0 62.1% 60.5% 60.8% 0.2 -1.4
Wyoming 13.6% 18.8% 15.1% -3.7 1.5 20.2% 13.5% 13.5% 0.0 -6.7
D.C. N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 24.6% 15.3% 15.1% -0.2 -9.5
U.S. 25.6% 19.9% 19.4% -0.5 -6.2 54.9% 49.3% 48.8% -0.5 -6.1
Notes:
  1. The student share is a measure of the proportion of total education revenue at public institutions coming from net tuition revenue. Net tuition revenue used for capital debt service is included in net tuition revenue but excluded from total education revenue in calculating the above figures. Total education revenue includes federal stimulus funding.
  2. Year change columns show percentage point increases or decreases, not percent change.
  3. The U.S. calculation does not include the District of Columbia. There are no two-year public institutions in Alaska or the District of Columbia.
  4. The year 2019 is included in this table because it is the starting point of the sector-level SHEF dataset.
  5. Sector is determined at the institution level using the Carnegie Basic Classification (https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/). Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges and "less-than-two-year" degree-granting institutions not assigned a Carnegie classification are considered two-year institutions.
  6. Fiscal year 2025 sector-level student share includes estimated two- and four-year net tuition and fee revenue for Alabama, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
  7. Each year, approximately one-third of education appropriations, a component of total education revenue, in Illinois go toward the state’s retirement pension system. See the Illinois State Spotlight for more details.
Source(s):
  • State Higher Education Executive Officers Association

Public funding for the higher education sector takes the form of a series of peaks and valleys. Greater volatility in funding, represented by magnitude and duration between the high points and low points, can undermine state affordability, attainment, and workforce development goals. A wide range of factors, such as tax revenue collections, election cycles, political considerations, enrollment trends, and many other needs can influence funding decisions for individual states in any given year. Generally, when tax revenue collections are healthy, the higher education sector tends to fare well in funding decisions. Conversely, the higher education “balance wheel” phenomenon plays out when states need a release valve to meet balanced budget requirements, especially during periods of declining state tax revenue. Funding peaks often occur right before recessions impact state coffers, and funding bottoms out in a valley once economic recoveries take hold.

This cycle of peaks and valleys provides important context for interpreting the key takeaways of the FY25 SHEF Report. The 1.0% decrease in education appropriations per FTE in FY25 suggests that FY24 may represent a new peak level of funding. If this is indeed the case, there are reasons to be both optimistic and concerned about the future of public higher education funding.

Reasons For Optimism

  • Historical Context. If FY24 does represent a new peak funding level, it will represent the second highest peak in the SHEF dataset, dating back to 1980. After adjusting for inflation, fiscal year 2000 is the only year that education appropriations per FTE were higher than FY24 ($12,287 and $12,205, respectively). At least nationally, the new peak represents an almost full recovery from the early 2000s recessions.
  • Total Investment Growth. Without adjusting for FTE enrollment, public funding for higher education increased in 2025. In real terms, education appropriations increased 2.6% from $127.4 billion in 2024 to $130.7 billion in 2025. This means that on a national basis, state and local governments actually increased their investment in higher education during 2025. There are naturally wide variations among states; however, 29 states increased education appropriations in real terms without adjusting for enrollment.
  • Enrollment Recovery. The primary reason education appropriations per student experienced a 1.0% decline nationally in 2025 is because enrollment increases outpaced the increases in education appropriations. Following 11 straight years of enrollment declines that accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, consecutive years of enrollment increases over 3% are reason for celebration, especially the back-to-back 5% jumps in the two-year sector in 2024 and 2025. Nationally, enrollment will return to pre-pandemic levels with a 1.3% increase in 2026.
  • Economic Resilience. The greatest reductions in education appropriations per student are typically associated with recessionary environments. Based on current economic indicators, the national economy grew throughout 2025. While economic factors can shift, an optimistic scenario suggests that the decline in education appropriations could be a bump in the road before continuing an upward trajectory, especially if the nation is able to avoid an economic downturn in the near term.

Causes for Concern

  • Pre-Recession Erosion Risk. While it is good news that the national economy is not in a recession, a new funding peak outside of an economic downturn can be viewed as cause for concern if the downward trend continues until it rapidly accelerates during a recession. This scenario would represent a repeat of the late 1980s. Education appropriations per student peaked in 1987, then declined for six straight years. While the three years of pre-recession declines, ranging between 0.3% and 1.6%, were smaller than the three years of recessionary declines, ranging between 2.8% and 5.5%, it took 12 years for public funding to match the 1987 peak.
  • Fiscal Constraints. State tax revenue growth coming out of the pandemic was robust and even reached record levels in some states. Unfortunately, the days of slack budgets were short lived, and most states are now projecting minimal year-over-year expenditure increases. In an era of constrained budgets, it is hard to envision a scenario where higher education funding does much better than achieving flat funding by simply keeping with the pace of inflation.
  • State-Level Variance. Looking at the national story hides significant state level variance. Even though education appropriations at the national level have exceeded 2008 levels, 24 states have not surpassed the pre-Great Recession peak. This means that nearly half of states are allocating less funding per student in 2025 than they were in 2008.
  • The Demographic Cliff. Even with enrollment increases over the last three years, FTE enrollment nationally remains 1.3% below 2019 levels. Additionally, the higher education sector is entering a “demographic cliff” with fewer traditional-aged students projected to graduate from high school over the next 15 years. Consequently, to maintain recent trends in enrollment increases, states will need to improve college-going rates and attract more adult learners.

In many ways the higher education sector currently sits at a crossroads. Broader demographic, economic, and political trends will impact which road the sector ultimately travels. As higher education prepares for an uncertain future that will likely include increased funding volatility, it is important to appreciate how far funding levels have come from the post-Great Recession valley — at least at the national level.

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