Brian Burnett

Public Funding Reduction for Higher Education in Colorado, 1970 - 2010: a Study Documenting Change and the Resulting Shift from Public to Private Good Brian Burnett

This book chronicles the change in public funding for post secondary education in Colorado from 1970 to 2010. Colorado was ranked sixth among states in per capita funding for higher education in 1970 and declined to 48th in 2010. The study analyzed state appropriations in five broad categories of spending: K-12 primary education, health and human services, courts and criminal justice, and all remaining functions of state government. Findings demonstrate that since 1970, after adjusting for inflation, state general fund budget appropriations have increased by much greater percentages for K-12 education, health and human services, and the courts and criminal justice programs. Higher education general fund appropriations increased by 8.9% over this time period and other parts of state government actually declined. Since 1970, higher education enrollment in Colorado grew by 138%, thus, in inflation adjusted terms, state spending on higher education on a per student basis declined by 55%. The book's recommendations call for leadership to address the underlying problems that are forcing public higher education dangerously close to privatization.