In years past, states contributed a much larger proportion of public school budgets than they do today. Much of that money now goes towards Medicaid. Much of that Medicaid money does not go towards the poor but rather middle class who go to nursing homes. They spend down their assets and transfer them to their children.
Hence, at least partially because of the middle class not buying nursing home insurance, the public universities are being deprived of their funding.
Nowadays, City University of New York tuition reportedly is $3000 per semester. At least in some fields (eg Engineering) you can get a very good education there I am told.
I actually moved from the midwest to NYC for exactly that reason. I can't afford the in state public university in my home state, so I had to move here, as ridiculous as that sounds. Luckily, NYC is not nearly as expensive as people make it out to be. I pay about $200/month more in living expenses, but it's $10,000/year cheaper to go to school here and I get free health care through medicaid (important since I have a very painful health condition). I have no family support, so I have to make it work through, well, work and what little money I can get from federal financial aid.
I'm really grateful CCNY still exists to provide me a path out of poverty. However, they're hiking tuition by $800/year for the next few years, so soon it'll be unaffordable, too...
Seems to me that states which are cutting education the most are doing it out of a slavish determination to balance their state budgets at all costs to score national political points. Here in Louisiana, Bobby Jindal has given away what would have been billions of tax dollars to private industry with little to show for it, cut income and corporate taxes, slashed medical spending for the poor and indigent, and raided medical funds which were supposed to last decades all in order to fuel his idiotic political agenda.
Universities have had to close entire departments in order to make ends meet, and some regional schools have even contemplated the idea of becoming junior colleges. This is at a time when the state was largely shielded from the larger national economic downturn because of the economic boom that happened during the recovery from Katrina. He will go down as the worst governor in at least the last half century, which is quite a feat, given that Kathleen Blanco and Edwin Edwards occupied the governor's mansion for nearly half that time.
This is where I'm reminded of my disconnect: City College of NY was my "safety school." Back then it was $800/semester and I would have been commuting from our apartment in Brooklyn, so no meals/residency costs.
Hence, at least partially because of the middle class not buying nursing home insurance, the public universities are being deprived of their funding.
Nowadays, City University of New York tuition reportedly is $3000 per semester. At least in some fields (eg Engineering) you can get a very good education there I am told.