The New York Times had an interesting piece up this morning about the rising cost of college tuition in the United States. Studies by the College Board show that average tuition and fees at public two-year colleges are $2,544, up 7.3 percent from the previous year.

This is a story we in Texas know all too well, since in-state tuition at public universities has risen about 86% just since 2003.

Patrick Callan, from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, told the NYT [emphasis mine]: “Given the financial hardship of the country, it’s simply astonishing that colleges and universities would have this kind of increases. It tells you that higher education is still a seller’s market. The level of debt we’re asking people to undertake is unsustainable.”

Something else I thought very interesting in the NYT story, [emphasis mine]: "While total education borrowing increased 5 percent from 2007-8 to 2008-9, the report said, there was a large shift to federal loans and away from private loans. Federal loans increased by about $15 billion last year, while nonfederal education loans declined by about half, to about $11 billion."

Just stop and think for a moment about the student loan industry, and Fannie Mae. Does anyone else see a problem here?!

And think about this, also from the NYT [emphasis mine]: "Colleges and universities provided 41 percent of the grant aid, the federal government 32 percent, the states 11 percent and employers and other sources 32 percent."

People, WAKE UP. 32 percent of all grant aid is FEDERAL grant aid, all taxpayer-funded, going to prop up higher education. Eleven percent comes from the states - again all taxpayer-funded.  The 41 percent provided by colleges and universities?  We're largely talking about public universities, which exist thanks to, you guessed it:  TAXPAYER FUNDING.

And tuition keeps going up. And universities keep begging the state and federal government for more money, for things like "tier one" research. And students go deeper into debt, in an economy that is collapsing precisely because of the unsustainable amount of debt in this country.

Our public universities are not subject to external audits, sunset review, or an elected accountability process, and are raising tuition much faster than the rate of population and inflation. Let's not forget the scandal at the University of Houston (one of the schools seeking to benefit from Proposition 4, should it pass) regarding tuition dollars being spent on booze, business class travel, and in one case a million-dollar home (more here).

We need a system of accountability in public higher ed. There is no way to get around that, and it is only the tip of the iceberg.

(ETA:  I'll be on Jason Moore's show on KWEL 1070 AM (Midland/Odessa) around 5pm CST today to talk Proposition 4 and higher education.

Check out http://www.kwel.com/ for the Listen Live link.)