Budget Trends Report for U.S. Higher Ed
Discover the U.S. universities most ready to invest in 2026.
Every month, Starbridge processes millions of public documents—board meeting minutes, strategic plans, RFPs, and contracts—to help businesses identify their best-fit public sector customers.
Executive summary
We ranked which colleges and universities have the budget for new products and services this year. We analyzed thousands of public documents including:
- Year-over-year budget trends
- Funding cuts and new funding sources
- Grants and major donations
- Leadership changes
- Hiring expansions, freezes, and restructures
- Board meeting materials and transcripts
- Endowment and bond activity, and more
The Starbridge propensity score adds context to every institution—helping you understand who is likely to spend and why.
Top trends
- 163 universities are aggressively spending this year.
- 50.8% of universities are open to spend this year.
- Texas has the highest concentration of universities willing to spend.
What you’ll learn
- Which universities show the strongest budget increases, and why
- Where university budgets are shrinking, and how that affects purchasing behavior
- Where vendors should prioritize, or deprioritize outreach based on university budget momentum
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