OPB has released two new briefs.
The focuses on trends in Resident Undergraduate (RUG) tuition rates and state funding environments across the United States, based on the most recent 鈥�鈥� report, which is released by the College Board each year. The report identifies Washington as the only state to have lower RUG tuition and fee rates than it did five years ago.
The report serves as a basis for a deep dive into the funding environments of some other case studies. The brief looks at Louisiana, Florida and Ohio as comparisons to Washington, as they are the three other states whose legislatures retain RUG tuition setting authority. Despite this fact, each state has had a variety of outcomes regarding tuition policy. California and Maine are also highlighted as case study comparisons because they are the only two other states to show a decrease in tuition over the past five years, though theirs are due to inflation-adjusted tuition freezes.
The is an updated version of previous 鈥淧ublished Price vs. Net Price鈥� briefs, which reflects the newest available data. The brief includes sector-wide data on increases in published price and net price for public and private four-year colleges, a description of how declining state investment in higher education has spurred tuition increases, and a table comparing the UW鈥檚 net price net price for resident undergraduates receiving grant or scholarship aid to its U.S. News & World Report top 25 research university peers.
Finally, it is with subdued excited that to announce that听these two briefs and blog post will be my last contribution to OPB as an intern.听I am graduating tomorrow听from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance,听while taking a job down at the State Capitol in Olympia. Thanks to all for reading!