Recent Macro-trends in Higher Education Finance

Several fiscal trends illustrate the environment in which public higher education institutions operate to educate students. While many factors affect the total fiscal environment, the trends that most directly affect institutions and students are presented in this paper. Specifically, this paper examines trends in college pricing (defined as institutional charges for tuition, fees, room, and board), student aid (a combination of grants from all sources and tax credits and deductions), state and local appropriations, and student loans.