State governments across the U.S. have made massive spending cuts on higher education since the financial crisis of 2008.

The spending cuts by states are one of the key reasons for increasing tuition rates at  American public universities. Other factors certainly play a role in tuition hikes, but the de-funding of public education by state governments forces public universities either to slash services or to raise tuition.

Jordan Weissmann reports on the spending cuts to higher education in an article in The Atlantic.