State tax appropriations for higher education fell 1.8% in fiscal 2021, but the losses were uneven among states and concentrated in the two-year sector, according to an analysis from the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association.

States are giving four-year colleges $63 million less in fiscal 2021 than they did last year, a 0.1% decline. Meanwhile, they're cutting funding to two-year institutions by $457 million, a 2% decline. Enrollment losses and pandemic-related expenses are buffeting community colleges' budgets as these schools face cuts in state support.

Roughly $1.9 billion in federal relief funding is helping states keep higher education appropriations flat in fiscal 2021, SHEEO's analysis found.

Without federal help, however, state support for higher education would have declined by $1.7 billion. Around 70% of states reported lower year-over-year tax appropriations for the sector when adjusted for inflation.

The federal relief is averting declines in higher ed funding for six states, including Texas. For states trimming support to the sector, that aid is reducing the average decline from 6% to 4.4%.

This year mirrors funding trends during past economic downturns, SHEEO analysts note. The declines in higher ed support are larger than those seen during the early 2000s recession but smaller than the first year of cuts during the Great Recession.

However, overall state funding to higher ed never recovered from declines during that latter period. "The vast majority of states have just never been in this kind of situation going into a recession," said Sophia Laderman, a senior policy analyst at SHEEO.

Declines are uneven so far. Six states slashed funding to the two-year sector by more than 10%, compared to only three states that did so in the four-year sector.

Read the full article about state funding for community college by Natalie Schwartz at Higher Ed Dive.