Education and General Programs (E&G) are the core instructional related activities of higher education institutions. The state and students share the responsibility for funding E&G at public institutions. The state provides tax revenues through appropriations for public institutions while funding from students is derived from tuition and fee revenue. Virginia has a funding policy that the state provides funding only for in-state students. Out-of-state students must pay at least the full cost of education. One measure of state funding is the general fund appropriations divided by in-state FTE students at a public institution. Another measure is the total appropriations (general fund plus tuition revenue) divided by the total FTE students at a public institution. FTE means full-time equivalent; a standard calculation is {total credits}/30 for undergraduate and professional students and {total credits)/24 for graduate students. 

Expenditures for E&G Programs present how an institution spent its total revenue (general fund and tuition revenue) in a fiscal year. Virginia has a centralized database that collects each state agency and public institutions’ expenditures. By accounting standards, expenditures usually are organized in two ways. One is by programs such as instruction, academic support, and student service etc. Another is by objects such as salaries, materials, continuous charges, and equipment etc. A measure of expenditures is the per FTE expenditures.