State appropriations per full-time equivalent student for higher education throughout the nation in 2016 decreased 1.8 percent in constant dollars over 2015—from $7,082 to $6,954—according to the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO).
The decline follows three consecutive years of per student funding growth and is a direct result of a budget stalemate in Illinois between the governor and the state legislature, SHEEO says in its State Higher Education Finance Fiscal 2016 report. A stopgap budget in Illinois provided only $2,196 per FTE in fiscal 2016, compared with $10,986 in fiscal 2015.
"Without Illinois, this would have been the fourth consecutive year of per-student funding growth, with a 3.2 percent increase over last year," the report says.
Here are the 10 states with the largest appropriations per FTE for higher education.