View in EDS

State Priorities for Higher Education in 2026

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: State Priorities for Higher Education in 2026
Language: English
Authors: Rachel Burns, Corey Gheesling, Tom Harnisch, Kelsey Heckert, John Lane, Dustin Weeden, Christina Whitfield, State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO)
Source: State Higher Education Executive Officers. 2026.
Availability: State Higher Education Executive Officers. 3035 Center Green Suite 100, Boulder, CO 80301. Tel: 303-541-1600; Fax: 303-541-1639; e-mail: sheeo@sheeo.org; Web site: http://www.sheeo.org
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 18
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Higher Education, State Policy, Educational Policy, Public Colleges, Labor Force Development, Paying for College, Outcomes of Education, Educational Attainment, State Aid, Transfer Policy, College School Cooperation, Public Opinion, Data Use
Abstract: Public higher education leaders will encounter a state policy environment defined by change and uncertainty in the year ahead. State higher education agencies and state lawmakers will have to make progress on ambitious state educational attainment goals in 2026 amid more limited state budgets, unstable federal funding streams, and intensifying state and federal political pressures. With last year's sweeping federal higher education policy changes entering implementation in July, continued regulatory shifts expected from Washington, and a pivotal midterm election, 2026 will shape higher education well into the 2030s. This report provides insight into the state policy priorities and concerns for higher education in 2026 through a survey of State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEOs) during November 2025. Forty-seven SHEEOs from 40 states and one territory responded to this year's survey. The team at SHEEO selected 25 policy issues based on a variety of factors: (1) The prior year's State Priorities for Higher Education for longitudinal purposes; (2) Emerging policy issues based on common themes derived from the daily SHEEO policy update, which include news and updates related to state and national higher education policy, prior survey write-in issues, recently shared concerns among SHEEOs, and upcoming legislative initiatives; and (3) Retiring policy issues that have been ranked lower in importance and held constant in survey results or specific to a historical event or period that is no longer relevant (e.g., COVID-19 pandemic concerns). Using the list of issues, SHEEOs were asked to look toward 2026 and identify the importance of each higher education issue in their respective states. Respondents chose from the following multiple-choice options for each issue: very important (5); important (4); somewhat important (3); slightly important (2); not important (1); not applicable (0). Respondents were also asked to provide context or additional information and details on each issue and were given the option to add issues to the list to inform this survey for future iterations. SHEEO staff highlights the top 10 state priorities for higher education by ranking issues according to their average score (not including zeros). The 10 issues with the highest average score are outlined below. In addition, two honorable mention issues are also included. A table showing the percentage of respondents who selected each importance category or no rank appears in the "Appendix" of this report.
Abstractor: ERIC
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: ED679306
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
  Availability: 0
CustomLinks:
  – Url: https://eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED679306
    Name: ERIC Full Text
    Category: fullText
    Text: Full Text from ERIC
Header DbId: eric
DbLabel: ERIC
An: ED679306
AccessLevel: 3
PubType: Report
PubTypeId: report
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: State Priorities for Higher Education in 2026
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
  Group: Lang
  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Rachel+Burns%22">Rachel Burns</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Corey+Gheesling%22">Corey Gheesling</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Tom+Harnisch%22">Tom Harnisch</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Kelsey+Heckert%22">Kelsey Heckert</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22John+Lane%22">John Lane</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Dustin+Weeden%22">Dustin Weeden</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Christina+Whitfield%22">Christina Whitfield</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22State+Higher+Education+Executive+Officers+%28SHEEO%29%22">State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO)</searchLink>
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22State+Higher+Education+Executive+Officers%22"><i>State Higher Education Executive Officers</i></searchLink>. 2026.
– Name: Avail
  Label: Availability
  Group: Avail
  Data: State Higher Education Executive Officers. 3035 Center Green Suite 100, Boulder, CO 80301. Tel: 303-541-1600; Fax: 303-541-1639; e-mail: sheeo@sheeo.org; Web site: http://www.sheeo.org
– Name: PeerReviewed
  Label: Peer Reviewed
  Group: SrcInfo
  Data: N
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 18
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2026
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Reports - Evaluative
– Name: Audience
  Label: Education Level
  Group: Audnce
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Higher+Education%22">Higher Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Postsecondary+Education%22">Postsecondary Education</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Higher+Education%22">Higher Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22State+Policy%22">State Policy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+Policy%22">Educational Policy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Public+Colleges%22">Public Colleges</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Labor+Force+Development%22">Labor Force Development</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Paying+for+College%22">Paying for College</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Outcomes+of+Education%22">Outcomes of Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+Attainment%22">Educational Attainment</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22State+Aid%22">State Aid</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Transfer+Policy%22">Transfer Policy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22College+School+Cooperation%22">College School Cooperation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Public+Opinion%22">Public Opinion</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+Use%22">Data Use</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Public higher education leaders will encounter a state policy environment defined by change and uncertainty in the year ahead. State higher education agencies and state lawmakers will have to make progress on ambitious state educational attainment goals in 2026 amid more limited state budgets, unstable federal funding streams, and intensifying state and federal political pressures. With last year's sweeping federal higher education policy changes entering implementation in July, continued regulatory shifts expected from Washington, and a pivotal midterm election, 2026 will shape higher education well into the 2030s. This report provides insight into the state policy priorities and concerns for higher education in 2026 through a survey of State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEOs) during November 2025. Forty-seven SHEEOs from 40 states and one territory responded to this year's survey. The team at SHEEO selected 25 policy issues based on a variety of factors: (1) The prior year's State Priorities for Higher Education for longitudinal purposes; (2) Emerging policy issues based on common themes derived from the daily SHEEO policy update, which include news and updates related to state and national higher education policy, prior survey write-in issues, recently shared concerns among SHEEOs, and upcoming legislative initiatives; and (3) Retiring policy issues that have been ranked lower in importance and held constant in survey results or specific to a historical event or period that is no longer relevant (e.g., COVID-19 pandemic concerns). Using the list of issues, SHEEOs were asked to look toward 2026 and identify the importance of each higher education issue in their respective states. Respondents chose from the following multiple-choice options for each issue: very important (5); important (4); somewhat important (3); slightly important (2); not important (1); not applicable (0). Respondents were also asked to provide context or additional information and details on each issue and were given the option to add issues to the list to inform this survey for future iterations. SHEEO staff highlights the top 10 state priorities for higher education by ranking issues according to their average score (not including zeros). The 10 issues with the highest average score are outlined below. In addition, two honorable mention issues are also included. A table showing the percentage of respondents who selected each importance category or no rank appears in the "Appendix" of this report.
– Name: AbstractInfo
  Label: Abstractor
  Group: Ab
  Data: ERIC
– Name: DateEntry
  Label: Entry Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2026
– Name: AN
  Label: Accession Number
  Group: ID
  Data: ED679306
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=ED679306
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 18
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Higher Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: State Policy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Educational Policy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Public Colleges
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Labor Force Development
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Paying for College
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Outcomes of Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Educational Attainment
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: State Aid
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Transfer Policy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: College School Cooperation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Public Opinion
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Data Use
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: State Priorities for Higher Education in 2026
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO)
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Rachel Burns
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Corey Gheesling
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Tom Harnisch
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Kelsey Heckert
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: John Lane
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Dustin Weeden
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Christina Whitfield
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: State Higher Education Executive Officers
              Type: main
ResultId 1