State support for higher education is set to grow by 6.3 percent in the 2006-7 budget year, slightly more than the 6.1 percent it increased the previous year, according to a report from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Eleven states plan to increase their total spending on higher education by 10 percent or more for 2006-7, says the report, which was released today. The largest increase is in Mississippi, where funds for higher education are set to increase by 28.6 percent. That increase, though, is partly due to a change in how the state funnels money to higher education, the report says.

Alabama has budgeted the second-highest increase for higher education, an 18.7-percent jump. That includes a 5-percent pay raise for employees at two-year colleges and more money to cover increases in health-insurance costs, the report says.

Two states—New Jersey and Texas—plan drops in higher-education spending for 2006-7.

Earlier this year, the state-legislatures group released a survey that said revenues were above the projections for the 2005-6 fiscal year in every state except Rhode Island, and that 14 states planned to spend some of the extra money on higher education (The Chronicle, June 23).

(The Chronicle of Higher Education)