Yes, that college tuition bill was bigger this year.
Confirming what students and their parents already knew, an influential education think tank (智囊机构) says that states are passing along their budget woes (困难) to public university students and their families．Tuitions are rising by double digits in some states, while the amount of state-funded student aid is dropping.
The result, says the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education in San Jose, Calif., is 'the worst fiscal news for public higher education institutions and their students in at least a decade.'
Although incomes are rising by only 1% to 2 % in most states, tuition at four-year public schools leapt by 24% in Massachusetts, 20% in Texas and 7% nationally since the 2001-2002 school year, the center says.
State budget deficits (预算赤字) are the cause．Nationally, states spend about 48% of their revenue on education, or about $235 billion in 2001 for kindergarten through college, says the National Governors Association．Elementary and secondary education budgets are protected in many state constitutions, which means they are generally the last expense that states will cut．But higher education is vulnerable to budget cuts-- and tuition increases: After all, no one has to go to college.
Colleges and universities 'have s they can charge,' says the National Center's president, Patrick M．Callan．Tuition 'is the easiest money to get,' he adds.
The pressure to raise tuition is particularly intense because states froze or even cut state university tuition during the 1990s．With its eye on the knowledge-driven economic boom, the University of Virginia cut tuition by 20% in 1999．This year, although per-capita income grew by less than 1% in Virginia, the state raised tuition at its four-year colleges by 9% and cut student aid by 8%, or about $10 million.
The rising cost of public education, and the fear that it is financially squeezing some students out of an education, has prompted some state universities to adopt a practice long used by private schools to attract students: tuition discounting．In tuition discounting, colleges turn around a share of the tuition paid by some students, and use it to pay for scholarships for others．Private colleges typically return $35 to $45 in scholarships for every $100 they collect in tuition revenue．But until recently, states have viewed discounting as politically unpopular.
There are a few steps students and their families can take to offset rising tuitions, but not many．Because colleges are always interested in raising academic quality, talented students can pit one college against another in hopes of raising their financial-aid offer．Some colleges now invite students to call and renegotiate their aid packages if they get a better offer from another institution.
College education becomes costlier because ______.