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State higher education leaders say their top priority for 2025 is ensuring robust operating support from state governments, according to the latest annual survey from the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association.
Respondents listed economic and workforce development as their second-highest priority for the new year, with 94 percent classifying it as important or very important. The third-highest priority for public higher ed executives is state financial aid programs, followed by restoring confidence in higher ed’s value, student success and completion, college affordability, and declining enrollments.
While state higher ed funding grew in 2022–23 thanks to infusions of federal pandemic relief money, it’s beginning to contract as budget surpluses shrink. Last year, operating support was No. 2 on SHEEO’s priority list, and in 2023, it ranked fourth.
“With some states already having to make tough budget decisions, I think we’ll continue to see headlines around operating support, state funding for financial aid programs, and the conversation around college affordability and the value proposition,” Tom Harnisch, SHEEO’s vice president for government relations, wrote in a statement accompanying the survey results.
