In this paper an attempt is made to examine the trends in growth and composition of public expenditure on higher education in Andhra Pradesh during the past six decades. Public expenditure on higher education plays a pivotal role in the development of higher education by creating educational infrastructure both physical and human. It also increases equity dimension in education by providing free education or subsidized education for all the students irrespective of their caste, religion and economic status. The public expenditure on higher education in Andhra Pradesh increased from Rs. 3.94 crore in 1960-61 to Rs. 861.8 crore in 2000-01 and further increased to Rs.2818.8 crore by 2013-14. The state of Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated in 2014. Therefore, the public expenditure on higher education declined to 2341.6 crore in 2014-15. Thereafter, it rose to 2530.5 crore by 2018-19. Though the public expenditure on higher education increased constantly in absolute figures over a period of time, the public spending on higher education at Centre as well as State Governments have not been satisfactory.