Location:
EDUCATION - HIGHER - FINANCE;

OLR Research Report


December 8, 2010

 

2010-R-0508

OLR BACKGROUNDER: HIGHER EDUCATION
SPENDING IN CONNECTICUT

By: Terrance Adams, Legislative Analyst II

State funding for public higher education has decreased over the last 20 years as a percentage of institutions' operating budgets. This report examines funding changes for higher education in Connecticut overall and specifically at UConn, the Connecticut State University (CSU) system, and the community-technical colleges (CTC).

TRENDS IN THE PAST TWO DECADES

A trend in public higher education nationwide is the decreasing share of institutions' operating budgets from state funding. In Connecticut, the state share (money from the General Fund) of operating budgets for UConn, CSU, and CTC is substantially lower than it was two decades ago, as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: General Fund Expenditures as Percentage of Total Operating Expenditures

Constituent Unit

FY 90

FY 00

FY 09

UConn

44.3%

34.7%

25.0%

CSU

54.6

37.3

24.9

CTC

65.6

55.3

44.8

However, these declining percentages have not been caused by absolute funding decreases by the state (although in some years funding did decrease or remain flat), but by increases in the institutions' total operating expenditures that outpaced increases in state appropriations.

We examined expenditure data and in-state tuition rates from FY 1990 to FY 2009 for UConn, CSU, and CTC and compared these figures with overall state spending. We found that (1) annual growth in the constituent units' combined General Fund expenditures was less than the growth in overall state spending and (2) both the constituent units' combined operating expenditures and average in-state tuition increased at a faster rate than overall state spending.

Table 2 shows, from FY 1990 to FY 2009, both the cumulative and average annual increases in (1) General Fund and total operating expenditures, (2) in-state tuition, and (3) total state spending. The figures for General Fund expenditures, total operating expenditures, and in-state tuition are based on averages of UConn, CSU, and CTC. A breakdown by constituent unit is shown in Table 3.

Table 2: Percentage Increases FY 1990- FY 2009

Category

Cumulative Increase

Average Annual Increase

General Fund Expenditures

82.6%

3.2%

Total Operating Expenditures

229.8

6.5

In-State Tuition and Fees

282.6

7.3

Total State Spending

162.3

5.2

Source: The expenditure data are from budget books published by the Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA) while the in-state tuition data are from the Department of Higher Education (DHE).

Table 3: Percentage Increases by Constituent Unit,
FY 1990- FY 2009

Constituent Unit

General Fund Expenditures

Total Operating Expenditures

In-State Tuition and Fees

Cumulative Increase

Average Annual Increase

Cumulative Increase

Average Annual Increase

Cumulative Increase

Average Annual Increase

UConn

77.9%

3.1%

214.9%

6.2%

284.0%

7.3%

CSU

75.4

3.0

283.9

7.3

352.7

8.3

CTC

98.5

3.7

190.6

5.8

239.1

6.6

Source: The expenditure data are from budget books published by OFA while the in-state tuition data are from DHE.

IMPACT OF DECLINING STATE SHARE

A consequence of the disparate growth in General Fund expenditures and total operating expenditures is that the constituent units have sought additional revenue from other sources, such as tuition and fees, private giving, and federal funding. This is one reason why tuition and fees have risen substantially in the past two decades. However, for the state to have maintained the same share of the constituent units' budgets as it provided in FY 90 (see Table 1), it would have needed to spend nearly $450 million more in FY 09 (see Table 4).

Table 4: Impact of Declining State Share of Constituent Units' Operating Budgets

Constituent Unit

FY 09 General Fund Expenditures

(in millions)

Amount needed to fund same share as FY 90 (in millions)

Difference

(in millions)

UConn

$234.06

$414.21

-$180.15

CSU

162.94

356.60

-193.66

CTC

158.74

232.40

-73.66

Total

$555.74

$1,003.21

-$447.47

ANNUAL DATA BY CONSTITUENT UNIT

Annual figures for expenditures and in-state tuition at each constituent unit are shown in Tables 5, 6, and 7 (for UConn, CSU, and CTC, respectively), along with percent changes from the previous year. Again, the data are from OFA and DHE. All figures are in current dollars.

For both in-state tuition and total operating expenditures, CSU saw the fastest growth, followed by UConn and CTC. For general fund expenditures, the opposite was true; CTC saw the fastest growth, followed by UConn and CSU.

A noteworthy trend is the substantial fluctuation in constituent units' General Fund expenditures, with annual changes ranging from decreases of more than 6% to increases of more than 14%.

Table 5: UConn Expenditures and Tuition

Fiscal Year

General Fund Expenditures

Total Operating Expenditures

In-State Tuition and Fees

Total (in millions)

Percent Change

Total (in millions)

Percent Change

Total

Percent Change

1990

$131.54

-

$297.17

-

$2,631

-

1991

137.97

4.9

316.58

6.5

2,974

13.0

1992

128.85

-6.6

320.43

1.2

3,463

16.4

1993

121.98

-5.3

332.66

3.8

3,902

12.7

1994

135.53

11.1

338.97

1.9

4,290

9.9

1995

135.32

-0.2

343.56

1.4

4,712

9.8

1996

139.41

3.0

384.72

12.0

4,810

2.1

1997

156.90

12.6

412.16

7.1

4,974

3.4

1998

163.80

4.4

445.50

8.1

5,242

5.4

1999

168.19

2.7

480.38

7.8

5,330

1.7

2000

185.21

10.1

533.28

11.0

5,404

1.4

2001

179.17

-3.3

554.33

3.9

5,596

3.6

2002

190.56

6.4

629.79

13.6

5,824

4.1

2003

192.24

0.9

646.85

2.7

6,154

5.7

2004

190.23

-1.0

702.98

8.7

6,812

10.7

2005

197.04

3.6

756.24

7.6

7,490

10.0

2006

205.81

4.5

807.10

6.7

7,912

5.6

2007

222.57

8.1

856.78

6.2

8,362

5.7

2008

234.48

5.4

904.40

5.6

8,842

5.7

2009

234.06

-0.2

935.77

3.5

9,338

5.6

Table 6: CSU Expenditures and Tuition

Fiscal Year

General Fund Expenditures

Total Operating Expenditures

In-State Tuition and Fees

Total

(in millions)

Percent Change

Total

(in millions)

Percent Change

Total

Percent Change

1990

$92.89

-

$170.23

-

$1,586

-

1991

95.22

2.5

182.71

7.3

1,823

14.9

1992

93.56

-1.7

186.60

2.1

2,345

28.7

1993

87.69

-6.3

200.68

7.5

2,732

16.5

1994

95.47

8.9

215.38

7.3

2,912

6.6

1995

98.17

2.8

226.65

5.2

3,075

5.6

1996

100.86

2.7

230.15

1.5

3,194

3.9

1997

109.62

8.7

235.23

2.2

3,500

9.6

1998

113.85

3.9

270.53

15.0

3,601

2.9

1999

117.62

3.3

298.69

10.4

3,667

1.8

2000

134.71

14.5

361.26

20.9

3,749

2.2

2001

130.56

-3.1

378.73

4.8

3,910

4.3

2002

139.28

6.7

430.59

13.7

4,153

6.2

2003

138.12

-0.8

451.37

4.8

4,531

9.1

2004

136.04

-1.5

450.36

-0.2

5,121

13.0

2005

138.48

1.8

490.02

8.8

5,611

9.6

2006

145.52

5.1

530.86

8.3

5,936

5.8

2007

155.10

6.6

572.64

7.9

6,284

5.9

2008

164.25

5.9

611.32

6.8

6,736

7.2

2009

162.94

-0.8

653.50

6.9

7,180

6.6

Table 7: CTC Expenditures and Tuition

Fiscal Year

General Fund Expenditures

Total Operating Expenditures

In-State Tuition and Fees

Total (in millions)

Percent Change

Total (in millions)

Percent Change

Total

Percent Change

1990

$79.96

-

$121.92

-

$880

-

1991

80.29

0.4

118.51

-2.8

934

6.1

1992

79.22

-1.3

131.6

11.0

1,130

21.0

1993

74.96

-5.4

144.99

10.2

1,276

12.9

1994

80.73

7.7

159.42

10.0

1,398

9.6

1995

81.60

1.1

157.23

-1.4

1,520

8.7

1996

89.62

9.8

164.67

4.7

1,646

8.3

1997

94.30

5.2

172.61

4.8

1,722

4.6

1998

95.60

1.4

165.44

-4.2

1,814

5.3

1999

105.06

9.9

178.82

8.1

1,814

0.0

2000

115.43

9.9

208.79

16.8

1,814

0.0

2001

115.59

0.1

223.41

7.0

1,886

4.0

2002

129.26

11.8

253.75

13.6

1,888

0.1

2003

124.34

-3.8

242.22

-4.5

2,088

10.6

2004

121.39

-2.4

246.87

1.9

2,310

10.6

2005

126.92

4.6

263.57

6.8

2,406

4.2

2006

135.80

7.0

286.16

8.6

2,536

5.4

2007

145.50

7.1

305.00

6.6

2,672

5.4

2008

161.78

11.2

355.02

16.4

2,828

5.8

2009

158.74

-1.9

354.36

-0.2

2,984

5.5

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