In an op-ed for
Governing, Mark Funkhouser makes the case for keeping state higher education budgets intact.
Cutting budgets for institutions of higher learning may keep some cash in the coffers short term, but over time, states may lose more money than you tried to save in the first place:
"... Some city leaders are beginning to understand as never before the impact of an educated population on their cities' economic health. They are working to extend higher education to a greater proportion of their population and to keep the people they educate from moving elsewhere. They understand that there is no better long-term economic strategy than to invest in human capital. Governors and state legislatures need to get that message as well. No matter how bad times get, don't eat the seed corn."
Read the full essay here.
Source: Governing
Writer: Amy Elliott Bragg