IDK that we _need_ to increase state funding, but it absolutely explains the tuition trend. I don't feel particularly bad about people graduating with student d

IDK that we _need_ to increase state funding, but it absolutely explains the tuition trend. I don't feel particularly bad about people graduating with student debt if they have high paying jobs on the other side. What does feel bad is turning qualified students away, like one school I know used to do.[1] Every year they would pick a GPA cutoff to admit more engineering students to the upper level classes you need to graduate, not based on evidence of students failing but on faculty headcount. It's a total bait and switch, and thankfully it seems they ended the practice right before the pandemic. And it's tricky, we run teaching universities because we think there's some benefit to students being taught by practicing researchers. But the reality is that, especially in STEM, research funding is what matters more than tuition funding. Which in essence means in order to admit more students we need more research labs and buildings, because the 3/3 teaching load of a tenure track faculty member will not yield competitive wages. [1]: https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/osu-college-engineering-changes-its-curriculum-model-drive-student-success https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/osu-college-engineering-c...