This annual report presents comparative trend data covering enrollment, appropriations, tuition, and other factors for fiscal year 1996 for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. A 12-element data set covers all aspects of state education financing: accessibility and attractiveness; tax utilization; legislative budgeting; role of tuition; and relative effort of government versus families in paying for higher education. Chapter 1 explains purpose of the report and how the contents are organized. It also briefly describes the model used for interstate comparisons and discusses data accuracy and comparability. Chapter 2 presents the model for interstate comparative analyses of public higher education financing and a master table of ranked data. Chapter 3 argues that trends in public policy are better indicators of the true state of education financing than current performance rankings. There are three appendixes: the first provides basic data descriptions and reporting instructions of interest to financial officers and researchers; the second includes additional state information provided by the State Higher Education Finance Officers; and the third is a directory of state higher education finance officers. (Contains 62 references.) (CH)