The Seattle Times today published a handy explanation as to how it came to be that students now shoulder the lion’s share of the burden of funding their college education.
Historically, the state has funded most of it, keeping tuition affordable for the masses. But a steady decline in state funding, escalated by the periodic economic downturn, has replaced state investment with student tuition. And service cuts were still required during the recession as well.
This comes as new questions are being raised about whether the state will cut its investment in higher education once again next year.