This report provides background information for discussion of major higher education finance issues and options. Terminology for comparing funding methods for public higher education across states is introduced. An overview of the evolution of the objectives of funding methods over time is provided, and detailed profiles of the major characteristics of funding methods during 1991-92 for each state in the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) are presented. Eight summary tables present data on: state-level higher education funding methods and phases, major components of funding methods for general operations, budget request formula components and funding histories, funding methods for special purposes, distribution techniques when budget requests are not fully funded, processes for estimating self-generated revenues, budget control/budget flexibility, and years that basic methods for budgeting were adopted and years of last major revisions. The state profiles then present similar data for four-year and two-year colleges and universities in each of the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. (JDD)