West Virginia Public Broadcasting – A report released this month by the national Center on Budget and Policy Priorities looked at states across the country that cut their higher education budgets in the wake of the 2008 economic downturn. Read or listen.
Three of 50 states did not make cuts to their systems during that time, North Dakota, Wyoming and Alaska.
The report says now that the economy is picking up, states are restoring funding to colleges and universities, but levels are still well below where they were in 2008.
Thirteen states have continued to cut programs, and West Virginia was among, but holds a special distinction of one of three states that cut higher ed in 2014 and 2015 consecutively. That group includes Kentucky and Oklahoma.
