State preferences for higher education spending: A panel data analysis

Abstract

necessarily those of CHERI, Mellon or the Atlantic Philanthropies. All errors are my own. Few observers would disagree that America’s stellar economic, scientific, political and cultural standing is largely a result of the proliferation of its system of education throughout the states since the nation’s founding. Further, it is not a coincidence that America’s permanent place among the global powers occurred only after public monies from our various legislative entities began spilling into a growing higher education system, changing it from largely a private domain of the elite aristocracy, to a tool for the lower and middle class public to achieve the “American Dream ” as well. 1 Despite this and despite the large literature espousing the many benefits of investing in education, public higher education seems to be increasingly falling out of favor with both voters and governments alike. The goal of this paper is to explain why public higher education institutions find themselves in the precarious budget situations they are in today. Among my findings are that changes in observable state characteristics can explain little of the observed fall in higher education budget shares. Generally speaking, public higher education spending has been crowded out by increasing demands for state support of K12 education as a result of court mandated equalization programs, but more importantly because of the great deal of discretion legislatures have over higher education spending. That institutional efforts to

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