Cuts in state funding to public colleges may be to blame for a decline in bachelor’s degrees
Author: Ray Schroeder
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By Jillian Berman, Market Watch
“Money matters,” said Sarah Turner, an economics and education professor at the University of Virginia and one of the authors of the paper. “The declines in state appropriations have had real effects in terms of degree output, enrollment and there’s at least suggestive evidence that there’s some impact on research outputs.” A decline in state funding to public colleges is also associated with a drop in the number of people earning the types of credentials at public research universities necessary for the types of scientific innovation that boosts the economy, the research found. A 10% drop in state funding is correlated with a 5% drop in master’s degrees in science, engineering, technology and math (or STEM) and a 10.2% drop in Ph.Ds in those fields.