How Did Revenue and Spending per Student Change at Four-Year Colleges and Universities Between 2006-2007 and 2012-2013?

By Betsy Prueter

An independent report recently prepared by Postsecondary Analytics published the changes in revenue and spending by four-year public institutions between 2006-2007 and 2012-2013. The report shows that during those six years, four-year public universities experienced state appropriations losses of $2,370 per student. Tuition and fee revenues, however, increased by $1,940. This resulted in a net loss of $430 per full-time student.  Additionally, these four year public colleges and universities increased educational and related expenditures by $528 per full time student in that same time frame.

Among the other key findings:

• State and local appropriations per full-time student dropped from $9,250 to $6,880 – a loss of $2,370.
• There was a simultaneous increase in tuition revenues per full-time student from $7,111 to $9,051 – an increase of $1,940.
• Despite the loss of overall funding (including the increase in tuition designed to address those losses), education related expenses increased by $528 from $15,776 to $16,304 per full-time student during the reported timeframe.