Students Bear the Burden of State Higher Ed Cuts

Over the past year, state funding for higher education has declined by nearly 8%. In real terms, that amounts to $6 billion less being funneled into the nation’s public colleges and universities at a time when the demand for the degrees they provide is at an all-time high.

According to the annual Grapevine report from the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University, 41 states reduced funding as a result of the slow economic recovery and the end of federal stimulus funds. Of those, 29 states allocated less money in the 2011-12 school year than they did in the pre-recession 2006-07 school year. And further, 14 states reduced funds by more than 10%. In the most extreme case, New Hampshire reduced public funding for its colleges and universities by 41%; at the other end of the spectrum, North Carolina decreased funding by only 1%, and nine states managed to increase total state spending for higher ed.

Read more: http://moneyland.time.com/2012/01/25/students-bear-the-burden-of-state-higher-ed-cuts/#ixzz1kUZgofbQ