First, you say that figures I gave from the 1950s to the present should be disregarded based on figures from 2008 to the present. Those are not necessarily in contradiction. Particularly not given that the period of fastest rising state funding was the 1950s through the late 1970s.
Second, your argument is absurd on the absolute size of the numbers involved. For example from page 2 of https://www.mhec.org/sites/default/files/resources/mhec_affo... we see that per FTE enrollment from 1992 to 2017 that inflation adjusted state spending went from $8,301 to $7,642 and net tuition per FTE (tuition - financial aid etc) went from $3,361 to $6,572. The in real dollars decrease of $659 per FTE in state spending is only 20% of the real increase for students. Where is the other 80% coming from?
Even in the difficult 2008-2017 period, changes in state spending explains less than 50% of the change.
Furthermore the explanation that you are focused on explains changes in public university tuition only. It does not address why private universities have likewise seen skyrocketing tuition. Given that the trends in private and public tuition have been similar, it is more likely that they have a common explanation rather than unrelated ones.
Next, you're dismissing the source that I gave that looked at a variety of possible explanations and tried to quantify the relative impact at each. And yet you've failed to give sources that examine the possibility of any explanation other than your preferred one. (Which still only explains a small fraction of the rise in cost to students.)
And finally it is obvious that a university is more than just teaching staff. But when the fraction of revenues spent on what is supposed to be a core educational mission is so absurdly small, there is a problem. (In the meantime there are more bureaucrats per student, nicer dorms, and much nicer athletic facilities.)
Second, your argument is absurd on the absolute size of the numbers involved. For example from page 2 of https://www.mhec.org/sites/default/files/resources/mhec_affo... we see that per FTE enrollment from 1992 to 2017 that inflation adjusted state spending went from $8,301 to $7,642 and net tuition per FTE (tuition - financial aid etc) went from $3,361 to $6,572. The in real dollars decrease of $659 per FTE in state spending is only 20% of the real increase for students. Where is the other 80% coming from?
Even in the difficult 2008-2017 period, changes in state spending explains less than 50% of the change.
Furthermore the explanation that you are focused on explains changes in public university tuition only. It does not address why private universities have likewise seen skyrocketing tuition. Given that the trends in private and public tuition have been similar, it is more likely that they have a common explanation rather than unrelated ones.
Next, you're dismissing the source that I gave that looked at a variety of possible explanations and tried to quantify the relative impact at each. And yet you've failed to give sources that examine the possibility of any explanation other than your preferred one. (Which still only explains a small fraction of the rise in cost to students.)
And finally it is obvious that a university is more than just teaching staff. But when the fraction of revenues spent on what is supposed to be a core educational mission is so absurdly small, there is a problem. (In the meantime there are more bureaucrats per student, nicer dorms, and much nicer athletic facilities.)