The largest state appropriation goes to the State Department of Education. It receives more than one-third of total state appropriations. Of the agency’s total FY ’11 appropriation of $2.4 billion, 80 percent goes directly to aid local school districts through a formula that considers the number of students and factors that make educating some students more costly. In addition to formula funding, the State Department of Education appropriation is used for textbooks, alternative education, advance placement education, and many other uses.

At the local level, school districts supplement state appropriations (49 percent of all school funding in FY 2007) with property taxes and other local funding (21 percent), state revenue dedicated for education (9 percent), and federal funds (17 percent). Since 2001 the state share of all education costs has fallen somewhat and the federal share has risen. This trend was accelerated in 2009-11 when federal stimulus funding helped make up for falling state support resulting from the recession.

Higher Education is the second largest state agency by appropriation, $1.0 billion in FY ‘11. Over the last ten years, appropriations have risen 20 percent, similar to the overall state budget increase of 22 percent. The Constitution prohibits the Legislature from appropriating funds to specific campuses. The allocation among the 25 colleges and universities is made annually by the Regents for Higher Education from a lump sum appropriation by the Legislature. The largest allocations for FY ’11, including appropriations and all other sources, were:

• University of Oklahoma--$405 million;
• Oklahoma State University--$333 million;
• OU Health Sciences Center--$179 million; and
• University of Central Oklahoma--$134 million.

State appropriations and tuition made up 42 percent each of all spending for Oklahoma higher education. Tuition and most other funds stay at the campus that collects them.

Career and Technical Education is the other large appropriated education agency. The $142 million FY ’11 appropriation helps provide courses for over 500,000 students at 29 technology centers and in over 400 school districts. Career Tech centers are mostly locally funded through property taxes and fees.

Nine other education agencies received about $50 million in total appropriations for FY ‘11. The largest are:

• The Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST), which provides funding for research based on Oklahoma campuses ($19 million);
• The Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, an intensive and selective high school that services students from across the state ($7 million);
• The State Department of Libraries, which operates state libraries and provides grants to local library systems ($6 million); and
• The Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA), which operates television stations across the state, broadcasting Public Broadcasting Services and local programming ($4 million).

Most of the major education agencies receive appropriations. The largest also receive substantial funding from federal and revolving funds. However, a few important state education agencies operate without appropriations.

• The Oklahoma Lottery Commission, which operates the lottery authorized by voters in 2004. In FY ’10 this agency collected $200 million from ticket sales and other revenues. Forty-five percent of collections (approximately $90 million) are reserved for prizes and twenty percent (approximately $40 million) for the costs of running the lottery. The remaining 35 percent (approximately $63 million for FY'10) is restricted to various education uses.
• The Oklahoma Student Loan Authority, which borrows funds by issuing bonds and loans the proceeds to eligible students in Oklahoma higher education institutions. In FY ’10 this agency spent $31 million.
• The Oklahoma College Savings Plan allows families to save for college education while avoiding some income taxes. Expenses of the plan manager and all other operations are paid from the investment earnings of the plan.

‹‹ Go back to Assessing Our Educational AccomplishmentsupGo on to Assessing Our Health and Social Services Structures ››