When states cut higher education budgets, students make up the difference.
Back in 1990, tuition made up 25 percent of public colleges’ revenue. During the recession, state funding fell and tuition rose -- and by 2013 the proportion of tuition as a contributor to revenue had nearly doubled, to 47.8 percent.
But now, for the second year in a row, the amount of the cost students pay is going down, according to the annual State Higher Education Finance report, released today.
In fiscal year 2015, tuition made up 46.5 percent of revenue, the study found. And while that number isn’t anywhere near pre-recession levels, it means that public higher education is slowly starting to recover.
But the recovery is spread unevenly, in time and in location. In Wyoming, only 14.9 percent of revenue comes from tuition. In Vermont, that number is 84.9 percent. And across the country, there are still 15 states above 60 percent.
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/27/public-colleges-relied-less-tuition-2015