Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

NCES Report on State-Level Revenues and Expenditures for Public Schools

  • 12/06/18

Washington, D.C. – The National Center for Education Statistics is out with the latest look at state-level revenues and expenditures in the nation's public schools, which increased for the third year in a row in the 2015-16 school year. Here are the highlights: 

The third straight year of increases represent a recovery from the economic downturn, which hit schools with four straight years of declines through 2013. Spending at public elementary and secondary schools rose by 2.9 percent from 2015 to 2016, a tick lower than the 3.2 percent boost the year before. 

Per pupil expenditures hit $11,841 nationally, an increase of 2.8 percent after adjusting for inflation. At the state level, per pupil spending ranged from $7,006 in Utah to $22,231 in New York. Washington, D.C. ($21,135), Connecticut ($19,615), New Jersey ($19,041), Vermont ($19,023), Alaska ($17,510) and Massachusetts ($16,986) all spent at least 40 percent more per student than the national average.

Revenues rose, as well, by 4 percent from fiscal 2015 to 2016. Local revenues increased by 3.7 percent, while state revenues increased by 4.9 percent and federal revenues saw a slight 1.1 percent bump, after adjusting for inflation. Download the report at https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2019301.

 

Featured

  • Construction Begins on 100+ Acre K–12 Campus Designed for Lakota Culture

    The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe (CRST) and the Cheyenne-Eagle Butte School District in Eagle Butte, S.D., recently broke ground on a new K–12 campus that will cover more than 100 acres and serve students and families across 1,600 square miles, according to a news release.

  • Rethinking K-12 Schools as a Continuous Learning Experience

    Most students move through three or more separate facilities during their K-12 journey, yet the built environments they encounter at each stage have traditionally been designed in isolation, with little continuity in spatial language, learning philosophy, or physical resources. Each new school is a reset with different layouts, learning models, expectations, and ways of moving through a building. The next generation of school design is making the case that the first day of kindergarten and the last day of high school can and should feel connected through common support systems and infrastructure in the physical environment.

  • ed tech conference calendar

    Upcoming Awards, Events & Webinars

  • Longwood University Hits Construction Milestone on New Music Education Facility

    Longwood University in Farmville, Va., recently celebrated the topping out of its new music education and performance facility, according to a news release. The university partnered with development and construction firm Skanska on the 63,800-square-foot facility, which began construction in August 2025 and has an estimated completion date of fall 2028.