State-tax support for higher education increased by less than 1 percent in the 2008-9 budget year, to $78.5-billion, according to an annual report released today by the Center for the Study of Education Policy, at Illinois State University. This was the first time in five years that state aid for higher education grew more slowly than it had the year before.
What’s more, many states are considering midyear budget cuts that would reduce money for colleges this year, even as legislators begin to draft budgets for next year. Over all, states could face budget gaps that total as much as $200-billion in the current fiscal year and the next one, the National Governors Association said in December.