And the gap between in-state and out-of-state tuition prices charged by public campuses has grown significantly in many states as colleges see out-of-state students as a critical revenue source.
Leaders at those four Pennsylvania schools blame state lawmakers for bringing their institutions to the brink of what would be a hefty tuition increase — about $10,000 at Penn State alone.
Since 2000, lawmakers have been chipping away at taxpayer appropriations to the Pennsylvania schools, which have seen their share decline by some $4,000 per student.
The story is similar in other states: Appropriations to public colleges are cut, or at the best, remain flat, and then tuition prices go up.
“Anywhere else in higher education, few people would make the assertions they are making with that little evidence,” he added.
The other, in the journal Economics of Education Review, found the pass-through rate is about $25 for every $100 cut.
Instead, colleges and lawmakers have limped along patching together short-term strategies, such as increases in out-of-state enrollment, to bring in more revenue. »