Recession’s Impact on College Finance
How hard did the Great Recession of 2007-09 hit nonprofit colleges and universities?
Were sharp increases in tuition enough to offset declining per-student public funding during the period 2000-10?
The latest report from the Delta Cost Project at American Institutes for Research (AIR) explores the financial situation of nonprofit colleges and universities between 2000 and 2010. Findings from College Spending in a Turbulent Decade, the final installment of this year’s Delta Data Updates, show that (1) among nonprofit colleges and universities, community colleges suffered the greatest financial hardships of the decade; and (2) institutional subsidies reached a decade-long low in 2010 across most types of institutions as students covered a larger portion of educational costs.