The Privatization of Our Public Colleges (in Two Charts) - Jordan Weissmann, Slate

State cuts to higher education spending aren’t the only reason public colleges are getting more expensive. But they are, without a doubt, one of the most important reasons. In some parts of the country, undergraduate education has been all but privatized, with taxpayers covering less than 15 percent of the expenses necessary to educate students. Here’s what the privatization trend looks like nationally, as captured in the State Higher Education Executive Officers' newest annual report on public college finances. In the 1980s, student tuition covered less than a quarter of so-called “educational revenue,” which is essentially the money colleges have available to spend on basic operating expenses, like teaching and administration. The rest came from government appropriations. Today, students cover almost half the cost of their own educations, on average. http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014/04/22/college_costs_the_privatization_of_public_higher_education.html