Indiana Invests Less in K-12 Education than Any of Its Neighbors

We can tell a lot about a society by how much it invests in time, resources, and money in educating its children.

Here in Indiana, we spend significantly less money per student than the national average. Data from the US Census in 2017—the most recent year for which we have data—shows that Indiana spent $10,045 per student in primary and secondary school. The national average was $12,201.

Indiana ranks 36 out of 50 states and Washington DC in spending per student, just below Kentucky and just above Arkansas.

When comparing per student spending to nearby states, Indiana comes in at the bottom.

Of course, spending per student is only one indicator of a robust educational infrastructure. How this money is distributed to school districts, how this money is used, and who benefits from spending are other important indicators.

Nevertheless, gross numbers are telling. There is a correlation between educational spending and educational attainment. A recent study by Professor C. Kirabo Jackson (Northwestern University), Professor Rucker C. Johnson (University of California, Berkeley), and Claudia Persico (Northwestern University) found that

a 10 percent increase in per-pupil spending each year for all twelve years of public school leads to 0.27 more completed years of education, 7.25 percent higher wages, and a 3.67 percentage-point reduction in the annual incidence of adult poverty; effects are much more pronounced for children from low-income families.

This is not the only study that is finding that schools that receive more funding have higher graduation rates. States that spend more on their educational systems tend to have a higher number of graduates with post-secondary degrees.

It may not be coincidental that the same year Indiana ranked #36 in per pupil primary and secondary spending in 2017 it ranked 34 in the percentage of the state population between 24 and 44 with postsecondary degrees.