Skip Navigation
Digest of Education Statistics
2016 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 106.10. Expenditures of educational institutions related to the gross domestic product, by level of institution: Selected years, 1929-30 through 2015-16
Year Gross
domestic
product (GDP)
(in billions
of current
dollars)
School year Expenditures for education in current dollars
All educational
institutions
All elementary and
secondary schools
All degree-granting
postsecondary institutions
Amount (in
millions)
As a
percent
of GDP
Amount (in
millions)
As a
percent
of GDP
Amount (in
millions)
As a
percent
of GDP
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1929 $104.6 1929-30   $632   0.6
1939 93.5 1939-40   758   0.8
1949 272.8 1949-50   $8,494 3.1 $6,249 2.3 2,246   0.8
1959 522.5 1959-60   22,314 4.3 16,713 3.2 5,601   1.1
1961 563.3 1961-62   26,828 4.8 19,673 3.5 7,155   1.3
                     
1963 638.6 1963-64   32,003 5.0 22,825 3.6 9,178   1.4
1965 743.7 1965-66   40,558 5.5 28,048 3.8 12,509   1.7
1967 861.7 1967-68   51,558 6.0 35,077 4.1 16,481   1.9
1969 1,019.9 1969-70   64,227 6.3 43,183 4.2 21,043   2.1
1970 1,075.9 1970-71   71,575 6.7 48,200 4.5 23,375   2.2
                     
1971 1,167.8 1971-72   76,510 6.6 50,950 4.4 25,560   2.2
1972 1,282.4 1972-73   82,908 6.5 54,952 4.3 27,956   2.2
1973 1,428.5 1973-74   91,084 6.4 60,370 4.2 30,714   2.2
1974 1,548.8 1974-75   103,903 6.7 68,846 4.4 35,058   2.3
1975 1,688.9 1975-76   114,004 6.8 75,101 4.4 38,903   2.3
                     
1976 1,877.6 1976-77   121,793 6.5 79,194 4.2 42,600   2.3
1977 2,086.0 1977-78   132,515 6.4 86,544 4.1 45,971   2.2
1978 2,356.6 1978-79   143,733 6.1 93,012 3.9 50,721   2.2
1979 2,632.1 1979-80   160,075 6.1 103,162 3.9 56,914   2.2
1980 2,862.5 1980-81   176,378 6.2 112,325 3.9 64,053   2.2
                     
1981 3,211.0 1981-82   190,825 5.9 120,486 3.8 70,339   2.2
1982 3,345.0 1982-83   204,661 6.1 128,725 3.8 75,936   2.3
1983 3,638.1 1983-84   220,993 6.1 139,000 3.8 81,993   2.3
1984 4,040.7 1984-85   239,351 5.9 149,400 3.7 89,951   2.2
1985 4,346.7 1985-86   259,336 6.0 161,800 3.7 97,536   2.2
                     
1986 4,590.2 1986-87   280,964 6.1 175,200 3.8 105,764   2.3
1987 4,870.2 1987-88   301,786 6.2 187,999 3.9 113,787   2.3
1988 5,252.6 1988-89   333,245 6.3 209,377 4.0 123,867   2.4
1989 5,657.7 1989-90   365,825 6.5 231,170 4.1 134,656   2.4
1990 5,979.6 1990-91   395,318 6.6 249,230 4.2 146,088   2.4
                     
1991 6,174.0 1991-92   417,944 6.8 261,755 4.2 156,189   2.5
1992 6,539.3 1992-93   439,676 6.7 274,435 4.2 165,241   2.5
1993 6,878.7 1993-94   460,756 6.7 287,407 4.2 173,351   2.5
1994 7,308.8 1994-95   485,169 6.6 302,200 4.1 182,969   2.5
1995 7,664.1 1995-96   508,523 6.6 318,046 4.1 190,476   2.5
                     
1996 8,100.2 1996-97   538,854 6.7 338,951 4.2 199,903 1 2.5
1997 8,608.5 1997-98   570,471 6.6 361,615 4.2 208,856 1 2.4
1998 9,089.2 1998-99   603,847 6.6 384,638 4.2 219,209   2.4
1999 9,660.6 1999-2000   649,322 6.7 412,538 4.3 236,784   2.5
2000 10,284.8 2000-01   705,017 6.9 444,811 4.3 260,206   2.5
                     
2001 10,621.8 2001-02   752,780 7.1 472,064 4.4 280,715   2.6
2002 10,977.5 2002-03   795,691 7.2 492,807 4.5 302,884   2.8
2003 11,510.7 2003-04   830,293 7.2 513,542 4.5 316,751   2.8
2004 12,274.9 2004-05   875,988 7.1 540,969 4.4 335,019   2.7
2005 13,093.7 2005-06   925,246 7.1 571,669 4.4 353,577   2.7
                     
2006 13,855.9 2006-07   984,034 7.1 608,495 4.4 375,539   2.7
2007 14,477.6 2007-08   1,054,904 7.3 646,414 4.5 408,490   2.8
2008 14,718.6 2008-09   1,089,683 7.4 658,926 4.5 430,757   2.9
2009 14,418.7 2009-10   1,100,897 7.6 654,418 4.5 446,479   3.1
2010 14,964.4 2010-11   1,124,352 7.5 652,356 4.4 471,997   3.2
                     
2011 15,517.9 2011-12   1,136,876 7.3 648,794 4.2 488,083   3.1
2012 16,155.3 2012-13   1,153,674 7.1 654,813 4.1 498,861   3.1
2013 16,691.5 2013-14   1,193,083 7.1 676,016 4.1 517,067   3.1
2014 17,393.1 2014-15 2 1,225,000 7.0 689,000 4.0 536,000   3.1
2015 18,036.6 2015-16 3 1,254,000 7.0 707,000 3.9 548,000   3.0
—Not available.
1 Estimated by the National Center for Education Statistics based on enrollment data for the given year and actual expenditures for prior years.
2 Data for elementary and secondary education are estimated; data for degree-granting institutions are actual.
3 Estimated by the National Center for Education Statistics based on teacher and enrollment data, and actual expenditures for prior years.
NOTE: Total expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools include current expenditures, interest on school debt, and capital outlay. Data for private elementary and secondary schools are estimated. Expenditures for colleges and universities in 1929-30 and 1939-40 include current-fund expenditures and additions to plant value. Public and private degree-granting institutions data for 1949-50 through 1995-96 are for current-fund expenditures. Data for private degree-granting institutions for 1996-97 and later years are for total expenditures. Data for public degree-granting institutions for 1996-97 through 2000-01 are for current expenditures; data for later years are for total expenditures. Postsecondary data through 1995-96 are for institutions of higher education, while later data are for degree-granting institutions. Degree-granting institutions grant associate’s or higher degrees and participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs. The degree-granting classification is very similar to the earlier higher education classification, but it includes more 2-year colleges and excludes a few higher education institutions that did not grant degrees. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Biennial Survey of Education in the United States, 1929-30 through 1949-50; Statistics of State School Systems, 1959-60 through 1969-70; Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education, 1970-71 through 1986-87; Common Core of Data (CCD), "National Public Education Financial Survey," 1987-88 through 2013-14; Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS), Financial Statistics of Institutions of Higher Education, 1965-66 through 1985-86; Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), "Finance Survey" (IPEDS-F:FY87-99); and IPEDS Spring 2001 through Spring 2016, Finance component. U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, National Income and Product Accounts Tables, retrieved May 6, 2017, from http://www.bea.gov/iTable/index_nipa.cfm. (This table was prepared May 2017.)

2016 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest