A major purpose of public higher education is to provide state residents with widespread opportunities to attend college. In all states, legislatures appropriate funds to support public colleges in order to lower the students’ cost and to make attendance more affordable. A recent national study of public higher education, “Measuring Up 2002,” by The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, assigned at least a passing grade to aspects of Maine’s public higher education sector with one major exception: affordability. Affordability was mainly assessed in terms of tuition charges, state income, available financial aid and the amount of state grant aid targeted to low-income families.

In terms of affordability, Maine received a failing grade. At a time when Maine clearly needs to increase college graduates among its population and has just created a new community college system, affordability is a major issue to be addressed.

Affordability is heavily impacted by state appropriation levels and tuition charges. In an attempt to cast light on these factors in Maine, I have compared state appropriation levels for public higher education (combined two-year and four-year institutions) per full-time equivalent students (FTE) and average tuition and fees charged by two-year and four-year public institutions for a number of states. Results presented here are based upon data reported by all degree-granting institutions to the National Center for Education Statistics and published by NCES as summary data for each state in “Digest of Education Statistics.” Household income data are from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Table 1 indicates the 20 states with the highest levels of state appropriation per FTE for all public higher education during the 1999-2000 period. Each state is then ranked in terms of its 2000-01 average level of tuition and fees and per $1,000 of household income. These rankings are done separately for two-year and four-year schools. In the case of two-year schools, rankings are based on tuition only.

These rankings provide two points relevant to understanding the affordability issue in Maine public higher education. First, in most cases, the 20 states with the highest appropriation per FTE rank among the lowest of the 50 states in terms of their tuition levels. For example, North Carolina ranks fourth highest in terms of appropriation level, but ranks among the lowest in terms of tuition for both two-year and four-year institutions. This pattern – high appropriation levels and low tuition levels – serves to increase affordability.

The second point is that Maine’s situation is quite different from the other states with high appropriation levels. Maine has both a high appropriation level and a high tuition level. In terms of appropriation per FTE in 2000-01, Maine has the 16th highest level among the 50 states. But in Maine’s two-year public higher education sector, the average tuition level was the fourth highest in the country. The average tuition levels for Maine’s four-year institutions was the 12th highest nationally and, in terms of tuition relative to household income, Maine ranked as the fifth highest of all states. The only other New England states to show the same general pattern of high appropriation and high tuition are Massachusetts and Connecticut. In both cases, however, the pattern is less pronounced than in Maine’s case.

These rankings present a troubling picture about the affordability of public higher education for Maine citizens. The relatively large amount appropriated per FTE by Maine’s Legislature to subsidize higher education and to make attendance more affordable is very much offset by the relatively high tuition levels being charged. It is not surprising that Maine, for a number of years, has had a net out-migration of students attending college. Creating a new community college system with tuition charges among the highest in the country does not seem to be a way to increase the number of students attending.

The comparison between appropriation and tuition levels sheds light on the consistent finding that Maine’s public higher education system fails in terms of affordability. Compared with other states, Maine’s Legislature, and taxpayers provide sufficient funding to make low tuition levels possible. As shown, Maine’s appropriation per FTE in 1999-2000 places it as the 16th highest in the country. States with similar levels of public support are generally able to operate public higher education systems with tuition levels much lower than Maine residents face. The situation in Maine – high appropriation levels and high tuition levels – serves no one.

Thomas D. Duchesneau is a faculty member in the Department of Economics at the University of Maine in Orono.