Since 1960, Grapevine has published annual compilations of data on state tax support for higher education, including general fund appropriations for universities, colleges, community colleges, and state higher education agencies. Each year’s Grapevine survey has asked states for tax appropriations data for the new fiscal year and for any revisions to data reported in previous years.
As of FY 2010, Grapevine tables—including both tax and nontax support—have been produced by ISU’s Center for the Study of Education Policy in cooperation with the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO). The Grapevine survey has been consolidated with the annual survey used by SHEEO in its State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) project (http://www.sheeo.org/finance/shef-home.htm).
This consolidated questionnaire asks for data that are compiled in a new State Support for Higher Education database. This database, in turn, is used to produce both the annual Grapevine tables, which provide a first look at state appropriations for the new fiscal year, and the annual SHEF report, which offers a more complete examination of trends in total state support for higher education, factoring in inflation and enrollment. The SHEF report for FY2011 will be released shortly by SHEEO.
The results of the Grapevine survey for fiscal year 2011-12 (FY12), including tax and nontax monies, are compiled in the national tables available on this website. The FY12 data summarized in these tables include revisions reported by the states as of March 15, 2012. Further revisions may be made as states make corrections or adjust their budgets in the face of ongoing revenue shortfalls. It is important to note that unlike Grapevine reports issued prior to fiscal year 2009-2010, the data from the survey for FY12 include only state totals. The new, consolidated questionnaire does not ask states to provide appropriations figures for individual colleges and universities.
Having some history with visioning the ISU center, done an ISU Ph.D. dissertation correlating educational attainment levels with personal income on a state by state basis, and working with both the Illinois Board of Higher Education and with one of the largest corporate educational funding sources in the U..S., I take pleasure in the continuation of the work done by ISU in this field.
Pat Burnham