MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC HIGHER ED - TEN YEAR LOOK BACK

The trend in Massachusetts public higher education over the last ten years is a bleak picture with falling state support, but higher enrollment, increased number of graduates and rising student charges.  Here  are the numbers:

State Appropriations for community colleges and state universities - DOWN 11%

Student Charges at State Universities UP 168%

Student Charges at Community Colleges UP 86%

Numbers of graduates at State Universities UP 12% 

Number of graduates at Community Colleges UP up 21% 

These long-term developments strike at the core of public higher education as costs are shifted increasingly to students.  What would Horace Mann think of Massachusetts today?

Horace Mann of Masschusetts, one of giants of public education in the 19th Century