Page 202 - Crisis in Higher Education

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Government’s Role in Higher Education

When people think of the role of government in higher education, they
focus on money—the amount of the subsidy provided—to the exclusion
of other factors like regulations and quality assurance. There are diverse
perspectives: those who want free tuition at public, two-year colleges and
four-year universities, and those who believe that government funding
should be eliminated or at least dramatically reduced. With free tuition,
students would be responsible for paying for fees, textbooks and other
learning materials, room, board, and miscellaneous expenses. Free tuition
implies a nearly 40% discount for students who attend a public university
and live on campus and an 80% discount for those who live at home and
commute. For students at public community and technical colleges, the
discount is about 20% if they live on campus and 70% if they live at home.
1
(See the data in Table 1.1 in Chapter 1.)
Governments have divergent patterns in funding higher education.
As described in Chapter 4, federal funding for higher education has
increased substantially since President Johnson signed the Higher
Education Act 50 years ago, while state support per full-time equiva-
2
lent (FTE) student has declined significantly during the same period.
3
There are a variety of federal programs with difference purposes and
different funding formulas. Federal Pell Grants are given to students
with financial needs, and veteran benefits are assigned to members of
the military for service to the country. Both of these benefits are por-
table, so students can take them to any university. On the other hand,
state general-purpose appropriations and local appropriations are allo-
cated to universities as tuition subsidies, so there is no financial test or
service credit required to earn the discount.
Local government support has declined as well because city and
county budgets became tighter. Local subsidies represent only about

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