Valuable, but Increasingly Unaffordable This chart shows percent of increase, compared to 1983 (set at 100 percent), when public education was supported primarily by public funds, with low tuition for students.

Sources: The College Board, Annual Survey and Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2012 Current Population Reports By Carmen DeNavas-Walt, Bernadette D. Proctor, Jessica C. Smith, Issued September 2013 and calculations by the author.