Indicator: Expenditures per student

Why it matters

School funding has been shown to contribute to better outcomes for students. Using national data, one study found that reading and vocabulary scores among Head Start children are higher where Head Start spending is higher. In K–12, causal studies consistently find that increases in per-pupil spending lead to higher test scores, high school graduation, college enrollment, and earnings, particularly for children from low-income households. In the postsecondary context, increases in per-student spending result in increased persistence and degree completion in both two- and four-year colleges. Increases in state appropriations for higher education spending also have been shown to result in increased educational attainment and shorter time to degree completion. In addition to instructional expenditures per student, increases in student service expenditures can also lead to increases in persistence and graduation rates, particularly for students from low-income households.

Yet funding is neither equal nor equitable. The highest-poverty districts in the United States receive approximately $1,000 less per student than the lowest-poverty districts —even states that have implemented progressive funding policies based on student need have not all been successful in ensuring funding for students from low-income households exceeds funding levels for more advantaged students.  At the postsecondary level, colleges with more students of color and students from low-income households have lower expenditures per student. Attendance at for-profit colleges, which have lower instructional expenditures per student ,   and spend more on advertising  than nonprofit colleges, is higher among students of color and those from low-income households.