MURFREESBORO — In the past ten years, the state has gone from covering 55 percent of Tennessee’s public college and university budgets, to just 30 percent. The other 70 percent is covered by the students, according to data from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.
The state’s HOPE scholarship for high achievers used to cover about 60 percent of university tuition. It’s 45 percent now.
In June, the University of Tennessee system’s trustees approved tuition hikes of 12 percent at the Knoxville campus and 10 percent at others. The Tennessee Board of Regents approved increases ranging from 8.8 percent to 11 percent, depending on the campus.
All that means students are taking out bigger and bigger loans.
It’s a situation that Richard Vedder, who heads the Center for College Affordability and Productivity in Washington, says is unsustainable, according to The Tennessean (http://tnne.ws/yqOBu0 ).
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