Nebraska

As of 2024, Nebraska’s education funding landscape has improved significantly in the past three years, but Gov. Jim Pillen is asking for even more state funding. Nebraska is currently outperforming the national average and now ranking in the middle range nationally for per-pupil expenditure. Nationally per-pupil expenditures rose 8.9% which is the largest percentage increase in 20 years. The states spending the most topped out at $29,873 for New York, and the bottom of the list was Utah at $9,552. Nebraska was 22nd and has the lowest cost of living index of any of the top half of the states ( Anesta, 2024 ). The state has also implemented a new funding formula to reduce reliance on local property taxes while increasing state aid, aiming for more equitable funding across districts ( Nebraska Department of Education, 2019 ). As federal pandemic relief funds come to an end, the funding mechanisms for the next few years are promising to Nebraskans.