Cost

National four-year public universities have, per student, increased tuition revenues by less than they have lost in state appropriations, while simultaneously keeping educational and related expenses flat over the period 2006-2020, adjusted for inflation. Put more simply, public universities are receiving less support from their states and are not relying on increases in tuition to make up for this decrease in state funding.

All universities are taking steps to reduce expenses and contain costs. Many are looking at their tuition structure and price-point. All are looking at their discount rate and how they are leveraging financial aid. But little appears to have been done to change the waning public perception and to drive the national discourse on the value of investing in public higher education.

In adjusted dollars, the costs actually have not increased over the last two decades. What has changed, however, is the level of state support to offset those costs. As state support has decreased, the effective cost to students and their families has increased. In essence, the reduction in state support is the equivalent of a tax increase on families paying for college. States are choosing this over raising taxes on the entire state population to better fund higher education (e.g.). Students and parents should be informed about all that universities are doing to reduce total costs, while protecting the value of the education and the degree, but must also understand the dynamics at play.