University Funding Highlights
Executive Summary - Like many other states, Arizona has decreased the percentage of total general fund appropriations devoted to higher education, due to competing demands. This has forced universities to increase tuition and other sources of funding. Although the actual dollar amount of state funding and tuition has increased, the actual inflation-adjusted spending power of Arizona's universities remains where it was nearly 20 years ago. Even with these financial pressures, the state university system has been able to maintain its commitment to access and affordability. Higher education and tuition costs in Arizona remain among the lowest in the country. Still, for a growing number of students, a university education is financially out of reach without some form of need-based assistance. Institutional financial aid has nearly tripled since the 2000-2001 academic year, currently accounting for more than half of all undergraduate scholarships and grants.
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Arizona's three public universities rely heavily on two primary funding sources -- state general fund appropriations and student tuition -- to provide education programs.
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In Arizona, as is the case in most of the United States, the public university system's share of state appropriations has become smaller as the state has had to deal with competing demands on the state treasury. In FY 1979, state appropriations to the University System constituted 19.4 percent of the general fund appropriations. Today, the university share amounts to only 10.6 percent.
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There is a direct relationship between general fund appropriations and tuition increases. When general fund appropriations were increasing from 1989 to 2000, tuition increases were modest. Conversely, when general fund appropriations decreased significantly (as they did beginning in 2001) there was substantial upward pressure on tuition rates.
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Board policy stipulates that total base resident undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees shall not exceed the top of the bottom one-third of rates set by the senior public universities of the other 49 states. Tuition levels in Arizona remain well below that threshold and even further below the average tuition in the senior public universities.
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In 2006-2007, resident undergraduate tuition compared with other senior public universities, ranked as follows:
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University of Arizona: 39th at $4,754
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Arizona State University: 40th at $4,686
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Northern Arizona University: 44th at $4,546
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In the total cost of attendance comparison for resident undergraduates (2006-07), Arizona's universities ranked as follows:
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University of Arizona: 30th at $13,420
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Arizona State University: 40th at $12,536
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Northern Arizona University: 46th at $11,634
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Download Briefing on University Funding.pdf
