Douglas Alexander: “I would also like to follow my remarks with this information from the American Council on Education that sheds…”

“I would also like to follow my remarks with this information from the American Council on Education that sheds additional light on the comparison of State and Federal spending. In 1995, the State spent $2.16 on higher education for every Federal dollar spent on higher education. In 2000, States contributed $1.55 for every Federal dollar spent on higher education. In 2005, States spent 94 cents on higher education for every Federal dollar spent. So very quietly, we are seeing a major shift in how we finance higher education. States are doing less, the Federal Government is continuing to be generous, and students are asked to do more. The insidious part of this is that traditionally, States have been the largest part of funding for higher education. So very quietly we see States go from spending $2.16 for every dollar spent, which was the case in 1995, to less than $1 spent for every Federal dollar spent, which is the case 10 years later in 2005. That is a major shift in funding, and we in the Congress and Secretary Spellings' new commission and the work Senator Bingaman and I are doing with the National Academy of Sciences need to take note of this and ask what will happen if we have 10 more years of these financing trends. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Brownback). The Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia.”