FY25 Supplemental Budget Undermines Fair Share Priorities for Higher Education
Overview
The FY25 Supplemental Budget allocates $1.3 billion in surplus Fair Share surtax revenues previously reserved from FY23 and FY24. The conference committee recently finalized a compromise budget awaiting the Governor’s signature. While these funds offer a historic opportunity to address persistent challenges in public education and transportation, the recent proposed allocations reveal troubling patterns, especially for higher education, which remains critically underserved. This diminishing support undermines the amendment’s promise of delivering affordable, high-quality public colleges and universities.
Higher Education Receives Just 10% of Surplus Fair Share Revenues
Despite urgent and well-documented needs, only 10% of the Fair Share funds in this supplemental budget are directed to higher education.
We reiterate four key findings from our previous analysis:
Students at public colleges face $11,000–$14,000 in annual out-of-pocket costs after financial aid. This level of unmet need forces 63% of public university students to take on debt—a higher rate than at private non-profits (53%)—and results in greater average debt at graduation for public college students.
Only one-third of Massachusetts community college students earn a degree or credential from any college in the country within six years of initial enrollment – a rate that is almost 30% worse than the national average. Recent investments (e.g., MassEducate and MassReconnect) have improved access, but critical funding for student success services that support retention and completion is sorely insufficient.
Massachusetts ranks among the lowest in the nation for public higher education investment, dedicating just 2.3% of its total state budget to the sector,a level of underfunding that threatens the long-term strength of the state’s workforce and innovation economy.
Over the two decades prior to Fair Share, higher education funding declined by 1%, following deep cuts of over 10%.
To ensure recent investments in access translate into meaningful student outcomes, it is crucial to implement measures that commit the legislature to sustained and complementary funding for student support services and faculty resources. Without these tied commitments, the gains achieved in improving access risk being undermined.
A Promising Start, Then a Stall: Higher Ed’s Share of Fair Share Funds is Slipping
When viewed in isolation, the FY25 Supplemental Budget may appear to simply rebalance the lower transportation allocation from the FY25 General Appropriations Act (GAA). However, a broader look, especially in light of the proposed FY26 budgets, reveals a troubling trend: higher education is effectively being level-funded, despite Fair Share revenues approaching $2 billion annually. For context, the legislature’s proposed FY26 budgets allocate as little as 12% of these funds to higher education.
The table below further contextualizes this recent downward trend. It compares actual budget allocations with hypothetical scenarios where higher education receives a 25% share of Fair Share revenues, illustrating the substantial gap between current funding levels and what could be achieved with a more equitable distribution. This comparison clearly highlights how significantly higher education funding is falling short.
This comparison underscores how significantly higher education is being shortchanged compared to the envisioned Fair Share distribution. Allocating at least 25% of Fair Share revenues would substantially address ongoing unmet needs in higher education, aligning more closely with voter expectations and the constitutional intent of the amendment.
Legal and Constitutional Grounds for Greater Higher Education Investment
The Fair Share Amendment earmarks revenues for "quality public education and affordable public colleges and universities" alongside transportation infrastructure. This explicit inclusion of “public colleges and universities” suggests a constitutional expectation for targeted investment in higher education—not simply a broad interpretation of K–12 and early education.
Recommendation: A Minimum of 25% for Higher Education
In light of this, we urge policymakers to:
● Dedicate at least 25% of Fair Share revenues to higher education, as a floor—not a ceiling—for future budgets.
● Consider moving toward an allocation of up to 33%, which aligns with recommendations from the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education.
This approach would bring Fair Share allocations closer to the public’s expectations, address the persistent underfunding of higher education, and help ensure that Massachusetts fulfills the promise of equitable, quality public education at all levels.