October 7, 2011
California and Bust
“California and Bust,” in the November issue of Vanity Fair, takes a sobering look at the U.S., state and local economies, with a harsh spotlight on California. Here’s what it says about funding for higher education:
The same fiscal year that the state spent $6 billion on prisons, it had invested just $4.7 billion in its higher education — that is, 33 campuses with 670,000 students. Over the past 30 years the state’s share of the budget for the University of California has fallen from 30 percent to 11 percent, and it is about to fall a lot more. In 1980 a Cal student paid $776 a year in tuition; in 2011 he pays $13,218. Everywhere you turn, the long-term future of the state is being sacrificed.
- Category: In the media, State budget, Student fees
