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  3. Yes, that college tuition bill was bigger this year. States are passing along their budget woes to public university students an

Yes, that college tuition bill was bigger this year. States are passing along their budget woes to public university students an

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问题     Yes, that college tuition bill was bigger this year. States are passing along their budget woes to public university students and their families. Tuitions are rising by double digits in some states, while the amount of state-funded student aid is dropping.
    Although incomes are rising by only 1% to 2% in most states, tuition at four-year public schools has leapt by 24% in Massachusetts, 20% in Texas and 7% nationally since the 2001-2002 school year. New York had the smallest increase, only 2%. But proposed tuition increases of 35% or more at the State University of New York and the City University of New York would put New York in the lead. Meanwhile, total tuition aid is down 10% in Illinois, 13% in Connecticut and 20% in Arkansas.
    State budget deficits are the cause. Nationally, states spend about 48% of their revenue on education, or about $235 billion in 2001 for kindergarten through college, says the National Governors Association. Elementary and secondary education budgets are protected in many state constitutions, which means that they are generally the last expense that states will cut. But higher education is vulnerable to budgets cuts—and’ tuition increase—because lawmakers tend to see it as discretionary: No one has to go to college, after all.
    Colleges and universities "have clients they can charge", says the National Center’s president, Patrick M. Callan. "Tuition is the easiest money to get", he adds.
    The rising cost of public education, and the fear that it is financially squeezing some students out of the education, have prompted some state universities to adopt a practice long used by private schools to attract students: tuition discounting. In tuition discounting colleges turn around a share of the tuition paid by some students, and use it to pay for scholarships for others. Private colleges typically return $35 to $45 in scholarships for every $100 they collect in tuition revenue. But until recently, states have viewed discounting as politically unpopular.
    The increasing cost of a college education is beginning to attract the attention of lawmakers, especially Congress, which already has begun hearings on college costs. But Congress isn’t in a mood to raise the $4,000 grants it offers to needy students under its Pell Grant program. Moreover, tuition has long been so low in some states—specially Iowa, Kansas and Illinois, which now are levying some of the biggest increases—that public outcries may fall on deaf legislative ears.
    Indeed, college presidents and trustees see big tuition increase in low-priced states as a good way to make the schools less dependent on appropriations that can swing wildly from year to year.
    There are a few steps students and their families can take to offset rising tuitions, but not many. Because colleges are always interested in raising academic quality, talented students can pit one college against another in hopes of raising their financial-aid offer. Some colleges now invite students to call and renegotiate their aid packages if they get a better offer from another institution, and even those that don’t say as much are willing to talk.
    In trying to attract the most desirable students, universities are mired in an "armed race", building expensive facilities that most students will never use, but pay for anyway.
选项 A、Inadequate State budget.
B、Rising tuitions.
C、Rise in parents’ income.
D、Increasing state-funded student aid.
答案A
解析 作者在第三段首句明确指出：State budget deficits(州预算赤字) are the cause．故"不足的州预算"为正确答案。
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