Higher tuition. Less faculty. That’s the story among colleges and universities throughout the country, according to a new Center on Budget and Policy Priorities paper that seeks to show how much worse things could have been without the Recovery Act.
The paper – Update on State Budget Cuts: At Least 41 States Have Imposed Cuts That Hurt Vulnerable Residents; Federal Economic Recovery Funds and State Tax Increases Are Reducing the Harm – says 34 states have imposed cuts at public colleges and universities, and/or raised tuition to pick up where state funding leaves off.
Among the examples:
* State funding for financial aid in Illinois was cut in half. The fallout means many students may have to forgo financial aid in the spring semester of the 2009-2010 academic year.
* Tuition at public universities in Florida will go up by 15 percent in the 2009-2010 school year. The University of Florida and Florida State University plan to lay off 50 and 200 staff and faculty members, respectively.
* State funding for the University of Washington was cut by 26 percent for the next two-year budget cycle, while Washington State University is increasing tuition by nearly 30 percent over the next two years.
