Average Revenue from Tuition and State Appropriations per FTE Student at Public 4-Year and Graduate Institutions, 1999–2010 (Adjusted for Inflation)

Colleges and universities are key to the humanities enterprise, through their direct subsidy of students and faculty, both in the classroom and in their research. The data show that state support for public colleges and universities has been waning over the past 15 years. One of the clearest indications of state disinvestment in higher education is the fact that tuition recently surpassed state appropriations as a source of revenue for public institutions. Amounts exclude institutions classified as very high research universities, which are tabulated separately but reinforce the same basic trend (converging in 2010).