A higher-cost education: State funding falls as tuition rises - Robby Korth, The Roanoke Times

University leaders blame state government for skyrocketing tuition costs. The state hasn’t fulfilled pledges made in the 1970s to cover two-thirds of public universities’ instruction, student support and other costs for in-state students, said Dan Hix, finance policy director for the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. “Higher education is seen as discretionary in the state budget. It’s not like K-12 or corrections or Medicaid,” Hix said. “It’s something that’s seen pretty universally as a good investment, but because for years tuition was seen as a balancing wheel, that (tuition rising) is what has happened.” Nationwide, combined spending on higher education by federal and state governments has increased dramatically. The same hasn’t been true in recent years in Virginia. http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/education/a-higher-cost-education-state-funding-falls-as-tuition-rises/article_2186c713-6d2e-5d14-8a2d-c02a10feeb3e.html