Reslicing the Higher Education Funding Pie: Winners and Losers
Part 2 in a series analyzing proposals being considered by the NSHE Committee on Higher Education Funding. These articles delve into various proposals the Committee will consider on May 30 and finalize on July 25. The NFA has issued a set of fundamental Principles for the Funding of Higher Education.
The ad hoc NSHE Committee on Higher Education Funding has been tasked with evaluating other states’ higher education funding models to support their NSHE-similar institutions. These models are to be compared to Nevada’s current model, including allocation and institutional costs to deliver instruction. The committee will then determine whether other funding-allocation methods would be appropriate for NSHE. The Nevada Faculty Alliance has stated to the committee that a new formula will be a failure if it merely redistributes the existing funding without new resources.
Impact of Formula Changes
The total funding per student at Nevada’s public colleges and universities is third-from-bottom among all states. It can be simultaneously true that certain institutions–for example, Nevada community colleges–are disadvantaged by the current formula and that all institutions are underfunded. Presidents will naturally recommend formulas that favor their own institutions, but the Committee must balance students’ different needs and resources and recommend an equitable funding formula.
The current formula distributes funding to the seven NSHE colleges and universities in proportion to resident Weighted Student Credit Hours (WSCH). A change from the resident WSCH to a different formula could result in a major disruption to funding. For example, as the following data will show, changing from WSCH to “unduplicated resident headcounts” in 2021–2022 would have decreased UNLV’s state appropriation by $55 million (−29%) and increased CSN’s by $69 million (+74%), out of a total $500 million appropriated to all seven institutions.
NFA maintains that any additions to the formula (e.g., including summer school courses in the WSCHs) must be fully funded. Any changes to the distribution formula must be implemented only with hold-harmless provisions for at least two biennia to allow institutions to adjust. Furthermore, different measures may be appropriate for a portion of the budget—for example, headcounts for non-instructional student support services—but not for the entire budget.
Comparison of Different Formula-Distribution Metrics
The following tables and charts show how different distribution formulas would affect the seven NSHE colleges and universities, using 2021–2022 data. Tables 1A and 1B show the state appropriations in percentages of the total and estimated percentage change after a shift from resident WSCHs. Tables 2A and 2B show the appropriations and changes in millions of dollars.
Switching completely from WSCHs to other enrollment metrics for the funding distribution formula would benefit the community colleges and NSU, but without additional funding would require drastic budget cuts at UNLV and UNR, comparable to recent pandemic budget cuts. Alternatively, different funding distribution formulas could be implemented for different institution types. Without additional funding, however, that could bake in disparities in the current formula.
The first data column in Table 1A shows resident WSCH percentages, which is how the current formula distributes funding. That is compared to unweighted student-credit hours (same as average annual full-time-equivalent enrollment) in the second column. The weightings of courses by levels and discipline are intended to account for the different costs of instruction.
The tables and Chart 1 compare three different headcount measures. Headcounts generally peak in the Fall semester. Total headcounts include out-of-state students; resident headcounts do not and are therefore lower. The “unduplicated resident headcount”, however, counts any individual student who has taken a state-supported course during the year. These can exceed the peak total headcounts because some students take courses sporadically. Because most of those students do not need year-round support, the unduplicated resident headcounts are a poor measure for the resources needed for student support services. We recommend the Fall headcounts, or an average of Fall and Spring, as more accurate for distributing funding for student services.
Finally, maintained square footage is included in the tables and Chart 2 because a bill in the 2023 legislature would have shifted the formula to consider only building square footage on each campus. Square footage has been mentioned in the funding committee discussions mainly in the context of fixed facility operations and utility costs.
Conclusion and Future Analysis
The current Weighted Student Credit Hour formula attempts to recognize the costs of offering courses to students at various levels in various disciplines. That’s appropriate for funding instructional staff and operations. Student support services geared to individual students are better correlated with student headcounts, including part-time students. There are also fixed facility and administrative costs that depend weakly on student numbers. In later posts, we will analyze these various cost drivers and how they might equitably be incorporated into a new formula for appropriate portions of the budgets.
Table 1A. NSHE Institutional Appropriation Percentages using Various Distribution Metrics
| Institution |
Resident Weighted Student Credit Hours |
Unweighted Resident Student Credit Hours |
Total Fall Headcount |
Resident Fall Headcount |
Unduplicated Resident Headcount |
Maintained Square Footage |
| UNLV |
37.9% |
33.7% |
28.8% |
28.2% |
27.0% |
34.2% |
| UNR |
25.2% |
20.6% |
18.9% |
16.7% |
15.3% |
37.7% |
| NSU |
5.8% |
6.8% |
6.8% |
7.6% |
7.6% |
2.0% |
| CSN |
18.6% |
24.7% |
29.3% |
30.8% |
32.4% |
14.7% |
| GBC |
2.7% |
2.9% |
3.3% |
3.9% |
3.2% |
2.7% |
| TMCC |
6.7% |
7.8% |
9.3% |
9.7% |
10.4% |
5.5% |
| WNC |
3.0% |
3.4% |
3.5% |
3.1% |
4.1% |
3.1% |
Sources: NSHE public reports and records. Maintained square footage includes non-instructional space.
Table 1B. Estimated Percentage Change in State Appropriation using Various Distribution Metrics
| Institution |
Resident Weighted Student Credit Hours |
Unweighted Resident Student Credit Hours |
Total Fall Headcount |
Resident Fall Headcount |
Unduplicated Resident Headcount |
Maintained Square Footage |
| UNLV |
0.0% |
-11.1
|
-24.0% |
-25.7% |
-28.8% |
-9.8% |
| UNR |
0.0% |
-18.3% |
-25.0% |
-33.6% |
-39.3% |
+49.6% |
| NSU |
0.0% |
+17.2% |
17.2% |
+31.3% |
31.0% |
-65.5% |
| CSN |
0.0% |
+32.8% |
57.5% |
65.4% |
74.2% |
-21.0% |
| GBC |
0.0% |
7.4% |
22.2% |
43.7% |
18.5% |
0.0% |
| TMCC |
0.0% |
16.4% |
38.8% |
45.5% |
55.2% |
-17.9% |
| WNC |
0.0% |
13.3% |
16.7% |
3.4% |
36.7% |
3.3% |
Table 2A. NSHE Institutional Appropriations using Various Distribution Metrics (Million $)
| Institution |
Resident Weighted Student Credit Hours |
Unweighted Resident Student Credit Hours |
Total Fall Headcount |
Resident Fall Headcount |
Unduplicated Resident Headcount |
Maintained Square Footage |
| UNLV |
$189.5 |
$168.5 |
$144.0 |
$140.8 |
$135.0 |
$171.0 |
| UNR |
$126.0 |
$103.0 |
$94.5 |
$83.6 |
$76.5 |
$188.5 |
| NSU |
$29.0 |
$34.0 |
$34.0 |
$38.1 |
$38.0 |
$10.0 |
| CSN |
$93.0 |
$123.5 |
$146.5 |
$153.8 |
$162.0 |
$73.5 |
| GBC |
$13.5 |
$14.5 |
$16.5 |
$19.4 |
$16.0 |
$13.5 |
| TMCC |
$33.5 |
$39.0 |
$46.5 |
$48.7 |
$52.0 |
$27.5 |
| WNC |
$15.0 |
$17.0 |
$17.5 |
$15.5 |
$20.5 |
$15.5 |
Sources: NSHE public reports and records. Assumes $500 million total appropriation.
Table 2B. Estimated Changes in State Appropriation using Various Distribution Metrics (Million $)
| Institution |
Resident Weighted Student Credit Hours |
Unweighted Resident Student Credit Hours |
Total Fall Headcount |
Resident Fall Headcount |
Unduplicated Resident Headcount |
Maintained Square Footage |
| UNLV |
$0.0 |
-$21.0 |
-$45.5 |
-$48.7 |
-$54.5 |
-$18.5 |
| UNR |
$0.0 |
-$23.0 |
-$31.5 |
-$42.4 |
-$49.5 |
$62.5 |
| NSU |
$0.0 |
$5.0 |
$5.0 |
$9.1 |
$9.0 |
-$19.0 |
| CSN |
$0.0 |
$30.5 |
$53.5 |
$60.8 |
$69.0 |
-$19.5 |
| GBC |
$0.0 |
$1.0 |
$3.0 |
$5.9 |
$2.5 |
$0.0 |
| TMCC |
$0.0 |
$5.5 |
$13.0 |
$15.2 |
$18.5 |
-$6.0 |
| WNC |
$0.0 |
$2.0 |
$2.5 |
$0.5 |
$5.5 |
$0.5 |
Chart 1. Headcount numbers by institution and type
Chart 2. Distribution Formulas by Institution for Various Measures
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Data are sourced from NSHE public records and reports. We welcome questions and welcome corrections from authoritative sources. Contact: kent.ervin@nevadafacultyalliance.org.
Update 5/17/2024: Corrected values in Table 1B to be percentage change in institutional appropriation (rather than the difference in the percentage share of the total budget).
NFA Series on NSHE Funding Formula
