Trending this year: Thirty state governments allotted more tax dollars to higher education in the 2013 fiscal year than in the previous one, a move welcomed by public colleges in those states. Over all, higher-education institutions were plodding through a slow economic recovery and at the same time trying meet higher expectations for performance. They got little help from their endowment portfolios, which declined 0.3 percent, on average.

Full analysis: Financial Recovery, and Then Some Headwinds