Monday, January 2, 2017

Report details declining funding for Massachusetts public higher ed - Gerry Tuoti, Patriot Ledger

Students have borne the financial brunt of more than a decade of cuts to public higher education funding, a new study has found. Since 2001, Massachusetts has decreased funding for public colleges and universities by 14 percent overall, and by 31 percent on a per-pupil basis when adjusted for inflation, according to a Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center report released Dec. 13. At the same time, the costs have increasingly been pushed onto students in the form of higher tuition, fees and student loan debts. "What we see clearly is there have been significant reductions in funding for public higher education on the order of $3,000 per student and increases in fees and tuition on the order of $4,000 per student," said Noah Berger, executive director of the nonprofit Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center. http://www.patriotledger.com/news/20161213/report-details-declining-funding-for-public-higher-ed