Public College Costs Up, State and Local Support Down

In recent decades, the United States has witnessed a trend in which students have been paying a larger and larger portion of higher education costs. In the past ten years, average student loan debt has spiked, and loan default rates are rising, leading more Americans to doubt that college is affordable.

“America’s public universities face stiff challenges in staying on top of the global higher education pile,” writes CFR’s James M. Lindsay on his blog The Water’s Edge, analyzing the findings of a recently released report by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association.