Measured in inflation-adjusted dollars per full-time equiv- alent (fte) student, states have been cutting this support for well over a decade, and spending cuts accelerated in response to the Great Recession. Between 2008 and 2013, states cut appropriation support per fte student in the median public research university by more than 26 percent (overall, support per fte student at the median public institution was cut by more than 20 percent).
The decline in support in part reflects difficult choices states have made in response to manda- tory spending programs like Medicaid, rising pension contributions, and a desire to preserve k–12 education.3
Today, public research universities still rely on state appropriations for approximately 51 percent of their educational revenue, although the percentage fluctuates widely by institution—ucla, for example, receives only 7 percent of its funding from the state. For most public institutions, further cuts could be devastating.
Via Richard Askey.
Wisconsin K-12 Spending Dominates Local Transfers and Wisconsin State Tax Based K-12 Spending Growth Far Exceeds University Funding
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