Seemingly both the routes of dependence on state-appropriated funds or on out-of-state tuition to fund the growing cost of education are erroneous. On one hand, universities in Illinois lie more vulnerable to dips in economic activity and budgetary spending; on the other, in-state students in California feel unwelcome at colleges that pledge to serve them first. Further, both of these means of grant procurement widen the racial and socioeconomic divide that access to higher education ideally aims to bridge.

While the overarching question of why higher-ed costs are burgeoning remains, the state must be vigilant in its path to create a more equitable environment for all communities that could also robustly weather another recession.

The entire article is here.