Some State Funding for Higher Education in the United States Growing Slightly

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has released its Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession (Report).  For the most part, the Report addresses salaries of professors, administrators and part-time lecturers in the United States.  Interestingly, the Report also reports on data concerning state investment in higher education.  As noted earlier, there is an innovation deficit in the United States based on a drop in federal spending on research in terms of real dollars.  And, as discussed previously, the Trump Administration budget is requesting a substantial cut in the amount of federal money invested in research.  The Report notes that after the Great Recession the amount of state funding for higher education dropped substantially.  Recently, there has been a slight overall uptick.  The uptick may be found in states that lean democratic versus republican in leadership; although this is not always the case for some states such as Texas and Nevada.  Hopefully, states continue to push more resources toward higher education and avoid pushing up tuition.  The full Report is available, here.  [Hat tip to my colleague Raquel Aldana.]