"Last week, the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California at Berkeley, released a report that analyzed funding for higher education from a comparative international perspective. According to the report, the United States is an outlier in that it has responded to the current economic recession by sharply cutting public funding for colleges and universities.
The authors of the report note that public colleges and universities in the United States depend heavily on cash-strapped state governments. By contrast, other countries’ central governments have made a strong commitment to education. As a result, “most nations have not thus far resorted to uncoordinated cutting of funding for higher education that we generally see in U.S. state systems.”
The researchers at Berkeley have pointed out a disconcerting systemic problem. In the United States, education seems among the first on the chopping block when times get tough — it is a sector especially prone to frequent and sizeable cuts."
The authors of the report note that public colleges and universities in the United States depend heavily on cash-strapped state governments. By contrast, other countries’ central governments have made a strong commitment to education. As a result, “most nations have not thus far resorted to uncoordinated cutting of funding for higher education that we generally see in U.S. state systems.”
The researchers at Berkeley have pointed out a disconcerting systemic problem. In the United States, education seems among the first on the chopping block when times get tough — it is a sector especially prone to frequent and sizeable cuts."
