The finances of many of the nation's institutions of higher education are starting to wobble. If they continue to deteriorate, the fallout won't be confined to college campuses. Schools have been trying to plug the gap by jacking up tuition at rates that aren't sustainable. The result is a fiscal hurdle that dozens of second- and third-tier public and private schools won't be able to clear. Hundreds of schools—including some of the most prestigious institutions in the country—have tightened their belts. That is bad news not just for the schools and their students but for the communities that depend on them for jobs. This pain is already being felt in places like Pullman, Wash., home to Washington State University. The city has 30,000 residents, of which 24,000 are either students or school employees. In the past four years WSU has eliminated 581 positions—more than a tenth of its workforce. State aid has fallen by $240 million over the same period. The school raised tuition by 49% in the past four years to make ends meet, boosting undergraduate tuition from $6,290 in 2007 to $9,374 in 2011—with the figure rising to $10,874 for the coming academic year.
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