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Imagine, taxpayer 'support' went down when a major recession hit (i.e., less taxes were collected). Government funding (for just about everything) is supposed

• _delirium 15y ago
  The last point is pretty contrary to most macroeconomic theory (from a pretty wide range of political perspectives that otherwise disagree). Pro-cyclical fiscal policy is a pretty bad idea; increasing government spending during booming economies and decreasing it during recessions is just about the exact opposite of what you want to be doing (but is indeed what most states tend to do, because politicians are short-sighted). Even if you don't believe in strong counter-cyclical fiscal policy, at least a flat fiscal policy is preferable to an actively pro-cyclical one. In any case, taxpayer funding for higher education has been shrinking since prior to the 2008 crisis. In the UC system, for example, the per-student state subsidy amounted to the following, inflation-adjusted: 1985: $30,000 1990: $28,000 1995: $22,000 2000: $28,000 2005: $19,000 2010: $17,000 That at least suggests why there might be a ~$10k tuition increase over the same period.