A new federal requirement that states provide consistent spending for higher education may not yet have much effect. As state budgets sour and colleges brace for cuts, only one state seems likely to have run afoul of the new rules this year, according to a "Chronicle" analysis of available data on state higher-education spending. Under the rule, states must spend at least the same amount of money for colleges each year as they spent on average in each of the previous five years. The federal government, however, has yet to establish a process for monitoring whether states are complying, instead asking states to self-certify that they are meeting that standard. Governors have sought a blanket waiver of the law as states grapple with severe economic downturns. The Education Department denied the request, made by the National Governors Association, but individual states can still apply for a reprieve. Advocates of the spending mandate, enacted in part to encourage states to provide consistent levels of aid to colleges to help them rein in costs, worry that allowing waivers in tight budget times would defeat the purpose of the new requirement.