HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania has seen one of the nation’s largest reductions in state funding for public colleges and universities since the start of the recession.
That’s according to a report released Thursday by the Washington, D.C.-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
According to the center’s analysis, Pennsylvania’s per-student support for higher education since 2008 is down 33 percent, the fifth-largest reduction in inflation-adjusted dollars. That translates to about $2,234 per-student, or 13th most.
The center says that over that same period, tuition has risen about 20 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars.
The report says some states have begun to restore funding cuts, but state financial support for public two- and four-year colleges nationally is about $8.7 billion lower, or 10 percent, than what it was just before the recession.
