A new report by the association of State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) has revealed that enrollments at public colleges and universities have been increasing while state and local monetary support has been slowly decreasing since the recession.
In the 2007-08 academic year, which was the start of the recession, public colleges and universities received $88.8 billion through state and local funding, and last year, they obtained only $81.2 billion, which is seven percent less when compared to 2011.
Meanwhile, public universities welcomed around 10.3 million students beginning of the recession. By 2012 the number had increased to 11.5 million.
Due to increased enrollments and decreased funding coupled with inflation, last year only $5,896 from state and local support was allotted per student, the lowest the association has noted in 25 years.
The state budget cuts can be related to record tuition hikes at public universities, last year. An 8.3 percent increase from $4,793 to $5,189.
"The depth of the 2008 recession and the economy's slow recovery are reflected in the funding, enrollment and net tuition numbers for 2012," Paul Lingenfelter, president of SHEEO, told US News University directory. "Tuition revenues are up substantially due to higher prices and more enrollments, but not enough to offset losses of public funding. Students are paying more, while public institutions are receiving substantially less money to educate them."
The report also said that both enrollment augmentation and higher tuition costs have resulted in net institutional revenue increase in tuition and fees from $41 billion in 2008 to $59.9 billion in 2012.
