A strong system of higher education helps students gain the knowledge they need to succeed, and it also helps ensure that we have the kind of skilled workforce that can support a vibrant, high-wage economy.
MassBudget’s new chartpack, Higher Learning, Lower Funding: The Decline in Support for Higher Education in Massachusetts finds that state support for public higher education has fallen 25% since FY 2001. As state support has decreased, tuition and fees have gone up, shifting the cost onto students and their families.
Higher Learning, Lower Funding also finds that:
- Between 2001 and 2013, the cuts to higher education funding in Massachusetts were larger than 43 other states.
- The amount we spend per pupil is slightly below the national average
- If our state budget included an additional $940 million for public higher education, we would be right at the national average in terms of the share of our economy spent by the state on public higher education. Looking at public higher education spending in this way – namely, as a percentage of our total economic resources – gives a better sense for our capacity to make additional investments
Get all the details: Higher Learning, Lower Funding: The Decline in Support for Higher Education in Massachusetts
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