Brian Lindholm delves into the economics of higher education spending:

It must be noted that the ability of the state to provide funds for higher education generally increases only as the size of the state economy grows. This 1% or 2% annually, once inflation is taken into account.

Alas, the ability of universities to consume said funds is growing more rapidly, with operating budgets typically rising 3% to 5% every year (again, with inflation being taken into account).

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