Nearly 40 states across the country are facing budget shortfalls for the upcoming fiscal year. The combination of these shortfalls could surpass $100 billion. Compare this to last year when 29 states had budget shortfalls totaling $48 billion. Eight to 10 states with energy and farm-based economies have stable budgets, but most other states are preparing plans to deal with significant declines in revenue.
Higher education funding is becoming a primary source of state budget savings as many states are planning to cut public higher education spending. The following are a few examples of how tough budgets are affecting higher education at the state level.
Massachusetts - Public universities are facing a 5.6 percent funding cut.
Pennsylvania - A 5 percent drop in tax revenues means a 4.25% cut to public higher education.
Virginia - Public higher education faces a 5 to 7 percent funding cut.
Utah - Public universities face a 4 percent cut at the same time that enrollment has increased 9 percent.
Nevada - Appropriators have proposed a 14 percent cut to higher education
Alabama, New York, and Tennessee - All face a new round of cuts to higher education that would mean a double-digit decrease in funding over the past two years.
Beyond the immediate fiscal year, state budget outlooks continue to look bleak.
"States will face a very difficult fiscal outlook over the next two to three years, and the decline may be deeper and longer than any they have witnessed during the last 30 years," according to the National Governors Association's State Economic Review.
By Haley Chitty NASFAA Associate Director of Communications
Posted 11/10/08 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web Site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.
