Nebraska’s $1B Education Future Fund could be depleted by 2028

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) — A recent analysis from the Nebraska Examiner shows a state education fund could be depleted less than five years after its creation.

Nebraska’s unicameral created the Education Future Fund (EFF) in 2023, infusing it with a $1 billion initial investment into state schools while planning to dump an additional $250 million a year into it.

It partnered along with LB 583, which expanded the state’s funding with an additional $1,500 per-student and doubled reimbursement of special education costs.

The point of this investment was to reduce the amount of property taxes needed to fund education, but with the state facing a roughly $95 million projected budget deficit, a new analysis from the Nebraska Examiner shows $250 million a year won’t be enough to sustain it past