Revenues and Expenditures Increase in Public K-12

The amount of money spent, per pupil, in U.S. public elementary and secondary schools rose to $11,066 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2014, according to a new report released today (October 5). That is a 1.2 percent increase over the previous year (FY 2013), after adjusting for inflation.

The National Center for Education Statistics, in the Institute of Education Sciences, released a new First Look report, Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2013-14. The report provides a look at spending on public K-12 education at a national and state level.

In FY 2014, total revenues per pupil averaged $12,460 nationally, an increase of 1.1 percent from FY 2013. This reversed a decrease of 1.1 percent decrease between FY 2012 and FY 2013.

At the state level, current expenditures per pupil ranged from $6,546 in Utah to $20,577 in the District of Columbia. In addition to the District of Columbia, current expenditures per pupil were at least 40 percent higher than the national average in New York ($20,156), New Jersey ($18,780), Alaska ($18,466), Connecticut ($18,401), Vermont ($18,066), Wyoming ($15,903), and Massachusetts ($15,886). Current expenditures per pupil increased by 1 percent or more in 25 states between FY 13 and FY 14.

This First Look report presents state-level data on revenues by source and expenditures by function for public elementary and secondary education for school year 2013-14. State education agencies in the 50 states and the District of Columbia provide the data to NCES. A report on district-level revenues and expenditures will be released later this year.