Variation in Community College Funding Levels (2023)

Funding for community colleges varies significantly, even within the same state. Several factors account for these differences, including more generous funding for smaller institutions to compensate for their higher costs per student, unequal local funding from property tax revenues, and political forces. In theory, this variation could lead to systemic inequities in funding levels by race, ethnicity, and economic status. Such inequities could arise if students from historically underserved groups are concentrated in community colleges that receive the lowest levels of funding from state and local appropriations. Our analysis finds no such consistent patterns across the nation but does find concerning patterns in a few states.