F. King Alexander, in an Inside Higher Ed opinion piece:
Of late, several organizations have produced a raft of studies that endeavor to derail investment in public education while lauding the virtues of for-profit and private education. Such studies have produced an avalanche of questionable statistics, all to the effect that public institutions do not warrant greater public taxpayer investment.
Alexander points to a doozy:
One such recent study by Andrew Gillen of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, “The Myth of State Disinvestment in Higher Education,” disparages reports of degeneration in state funding, maintaining that no real decline has occurred over the previous decades. The report claims that any alleged decrease in public investment in higher education is more perceived than real. This particular study argues against more such investment in higher education…
The group—a corporate- and Koch-funded think tank—is contorting the stats, as Alexander shows.