Driven largely by a 35 percent increase in student enrollment in public colleges and universities during the past decade, state funding for those institutions reached a 25-year low in 2010, according to a State Higher Education Executive Officers Association report released March 8. The association's eighth annual State Higher Education Finance report found that state and local funds per full-time-equivalent student dropped to $6,454 from 2009, a seven percent decrease and historic low.
Virginia alone saw an FTE enrollment increase of 19.9 percent during the past five years - five percent greater than the national average.
Allison Bell, policy analyst and conductor of the study, attributed this rise in enrollment to the increased popularity of a college education, as well as the resulting maximization of earning potential.
"There are all these national incentives to increase college growth across the country," she said. "During times of recession we typically see spikes in FTE growth."
The report stated enrollment numbers would have been higher if caps were not implemented because of budget cuts in state student financial assistance. A three-year recovery period which began in 2006 with rising state and local support for higher education ended abruptly in 2008 with the financial crisis. However, the report suggests state revenue will recover slowly during the next few years based on past trends.
"The constant dollar [amount] per student in state and local support for public education has decreased, but has been a really small decrease considering we are in a recession right now," Bell said.
The study also found that during the past five years Virginia had above average total educational revenue despite below average educational appropriations, the result of above average net tuition in 2010.
Although the commonwealth had a 2.5 percent increase in total educational revenue during the past five years - with total educational revenue defined as the sum of educational appropriations and net tuition, excluding net tuition revenue used for capital debt service - the general trend is certainly downward, said Colette Sheehy, University vice president for management and budget.
The report's value does not take into account the fact that state appropriations only support in-state students, Sheehy said. In its research, the University analyzes general funds, which also include medical education appropriations, and has found that during the past 20 years, state general funding per student has decreased by nearly one-half - $16,309 to $8,470 - while tuition has more than doubled - $3,633 to $8,780.
Additionally, the University now spends roughly $3,000 less per student today than in 1990, and in-state students now contribute more toward their education than the state.
When asked what the University is doing in light of the decreased funds, Sheehy said the University is reducing expenditures.
"I mean, we've had to," she said. "By the time you get to next year's budget we'll have taken a cut of $51.5 million. We've increased tuition, but that's for new costs, not necessarily budget reductions"
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