In trying to find a correlation between state appropriations and resident tuition, we looked at the ten states with the smallest increases in state appropriations and the ten with the largest increases, between academic years 2004 and 2005. A link between low appropriations and high tuition increases is apparent, as is a relationship between high appropriations and low tuition.
In looking at the ten states with the lowest appropriation increases (ranging from –6.0 percent in West Virginia to 1.5 percent in South Dakota), half had tuition increases higher than the median of 7.5 percent, including three in the top ten states with the highest tuition increases. Next we looked at the ten states with the largest increases in state appropriations, ranging from 7.9 percent in both Georgia and Nevada to 20.1 percent in Hawaii. Seven of those states had tuition increases lower than the median, including three that were in the top 20 percent of schools with the lowest annual tuition increase.

The following graph gives an overview of what has been happening nationwide regarding changes to state appropriations and tuition: