From 2001 to 2016, the MA state funding per student for higher education, adjusted for inflation, has gone down by $3,000 while the tuition and fees have gone up by $4,000.

At a time when expanding access to higher education is more important than ever for our economy - and for our people - the costs of attending public college have been rising substantially. More students in Massachusetts are taking out loans to pay for public college and university in the state, and they are going deeper into debt to do so: inflation-adjusted debt for students taking out loans in Massachusetts has gone up from an average of $19,000 in 2001 to $29,000 in 2014 -- an increase of 55 percent.
 
Why this sharp increase in student debt? In 16 Charts: Higher Education Funding in Massachusetts points to reduced state funding for our community colleges, state universities and UMass campuses as a primary cause. As state support has decreased, campuses have turned to tuition and fee increases to make up much of the difference, shifting the cost onto students and their families.

http://massbudget.org/report_window.php?loc=higher-education-funding-in-massachusetts.html

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