IV-07a: Public Higher Education Appropriations per Full-Time Equivalent Enrollment, Fiscal Years 1980–2020 (Adjusted for Inflation)
* Includes appropriations made by all 50 states and their localities. The District of Columbia is excluded from this figure, but information for this jurisdiction is provided in Figures IV-07b and c. See “About the Data” for details on what is encompassed by “public higher education appropriations.”
** Inflation adjustment performed by data collector using the Higher Education Cost Adjustment (HECA). For more on HECA, see https://sheeo.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Technical_Paper_A_HECA_1.pdf.
Source: State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, State Higher Education Finance Project. Data downloaded 6/23/2021 from https://shef.sheeo.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/SHEEO_SHEF_FY20_ Introduction_Sequence.xlsx. Data presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
For the purposes of these indicators, “public higher education appropriations” are:
“State and local support available for public higher education operating expenses, defined to include state public financial aid and exclude spending for research, agricultural, and medical education, as well as support for independent institutions or students attending them.” (State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, State Higher Education Finance, “Data Elements, Last Updated April 21, 2020,” https://shef.sheeo.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/ 04/SHEEO_SHEF_FY19_Data_Elements.pdf, accessed 6/23/2021). Also excluded are appropriations for agricultural extension and hospitals.
Appropriations include tax appropriations, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, nontax support, and endowment income. See https://shef.sheeo.org/data-definitions/ for details.
“Full-time equivalent enrollment” (FTEE) converts student credit hours to full-time academic year students. It excludes “most non-credit or non-degree program enrollments but includes coursework in a vocational or technical program which results in some formal recognition.” For the purposes of the indicators presented here, FTEE excludes medical students (https://shef.sheeo.org/data-definitions/; accessed 6/23/2021).
