New Hampshire Would Have Needed to Increase Public Higher Education Funding by $318 Million to Match National Average of Per Capita Funding in Fiscal Year 2023

For every person in New Hampshire, the State budgeted $106 for public higher education in fiscal year 2023. This value was the lowest amount of any state, with Pennsylvania being the next-lowest funder of public higher education that year by this measure, at $153 per capita. Nationwide, state government support for public higher education averaged $338 per capita. To fund public higher education in New Hampshire at the same rate as the national per capita average, New Hampshire would need to increase funding by $232 per capita to over three-fold the current per capita levels, resulting in a total higher education appropriation of more than $464 million, approximately $318 million higher than what was appropriated in 2023. Learn more about the New Hampshire’s funding of public higher education in NHFPI’s November Issue Brief Limited State Funding for Public Higher Education Adds to Workforce Constraints.