Supporters of the proposed legislation have promoted it by referencing a 2014 report from the Higher Education Finance Commission, a group including college presidents, lawmakers and other education officials that studied the state’s higher education funding model.
The commission found state appropriations per full-time equivalent student peaked at $12,184 in fiscal year 2001. Public higher education funding has fallen about 30% since that year, according to the bill’s chief sponsor in the Senate, state Sen. Jo Comerford, a Democrat.
