Office of Planning & Budgeting

September 7, 2011

Higher Ed Budget Cuts in WA Among Highest in the US

The American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ (AASCU) July 2011 State Outlook confirms that most states cut higher education spending for fiscal year 2012. For some states, this is the third or even fourth consecutive year of higher education spending cuts.

Also unsurprising, AASCU identifies the 23 percent funding cut for higher education in Washington as the second highest in the country (behind a 24 percent cut for such spending in Arizona, and equal to a 23 percent cut in California). That cut, combined with previous reductions, mean that the University of Washington has lost half of its state funding in just four years.