UPDATE: I am advised that this was the closest vote in 20 years on a tuition increase: 5-4.  I don’t have the names of those who had the courage to vote No, but kudos to them for doing so.  Even though Regents are elected, it’s relatively easy for them to roll over to an appointed administration on tuition votes, especially given the (at least perceived) centrality of higher education to opportunity for advancement.

The CU Regents have approved a 9.3% tuition increase for in-state students, and a 3% increase for out-of-state students.  No doubt it’ll take special scientific instruments to measure the time that elapsed between this announcement and certain legislators’ bemoaning the fact that we “don’t fund higher ed.”  But higher ed, even here in Colorado, has done a pretty terrible job of accounting exactly what it is we’re supposed to be funding.

The core mission of the university is the education of students, culminating in a degree that is supposed to represent the mastery of the material.  It is almost impossible to get a straight answer as to what that actually costs.  Go to the CU website, and you’ll be provided with a wealth of information about their sources of funding.  Detailed information about spending is almost impossible to find.

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