| Ok. So I looked at the FY19 budget for one of the universities I attended and for the overall budget of $7.3 billion it's broken out like this (numbers are rounded). [1] Tuition and fees -> $1.8 bb Government appropriations (it looks like this is what you're referring to as direct subsidies?) -> $ 470 mm Grants and contracts -> $862 mm Sales & Services University -> $543 mm Sales & Services Health System -> $3.3 bb Sales & Services OSU Physicians -> $480 mm Gifts and Endowment -> $380 mm Negligible other items -> $100 mm or something. So what subsidies are you referring to? Happy to look at a different university if you want to provide an example. [1]https://busfin.osu.edu/sites/default/files/12_a_fy21_budget_... -edit- Unfortunately I can't reply, but I'm not sure why you're only considering government appropriations with respect to tuition instead of the entire budget. Seems a bit selective to me. |
So if you want to look at total cost starting from the average amount a student pays as tuition you have to increase it by 38%. There are of course other intangibles paid for by the government such as the initial investment, often the land and a part of the endowment too.
So it is consequence fair to say that that tuition in state university is subsidized by the government.