Support your local public university

All but seven states cut their per-student support for major public research universities over the past decade, the National Science Board said Tuesday in a report depicting the cutbacks as a threat to the country's long-term economic health.

In 10 states, per-student support fell at least 30 percent from 2002 to 2010, according to data compiled by the board, which is the governing body of the National Science Foundation.

The NSF regularly tracks and publishes broad statistics on government spending on university research. It produced Tuesday's report, however, as the start of a regular series intended to focus attention on the growing threat to leading public research universities. (source)

In contrast, in the preceding decade only six states decreased support for higher education at public research universities. Of course, the economy of the 1990s was much better than the economy of the 2000s, but if you're wondering why tuition has recently increased faster than inflation at public research universities, a large part of the reason is that state support has declined.

The full report is available on the NSF website.