The theme of this week's posts at the Becker-Posner blog is tuition increases at public universities. 

Posner argues that keeping tuition low for all students–regardless of ability to pay–is unwarranted:

In any event, there is no case at all from an overall social standpoint for subsidizing students who would pay full college tuition, without the inducement of a subsidy; the subsidy does not induce students to obtain a college education who otherwise would not because they could not afford to; it is a windfall to their families. . . .

This situation presents a case for a virtuous tax increase (raising a fee for a public service is the equivalent of a tax): the increase helps to close the state’s fiscal gap; the burden of the increased tax is borne entirely by the well-to-do; and some of the higher revenue can be used to subsidize students unable to afford the higher tuition.

Becker agrees:

The average college graduate earns much more than the average individual who does not go to college. As a result, college graduates earn a lot more on average than does the typical taxpayer. It is a questionable system of regressive taxation when taxes are spent on subsidizing individuals who will earn more than those paying the taxes.

Here in Washington, Gov. Gregoire proposes, in her 2011-13 budget, to allow state schools to increase tuition (by $940 in 2012, and by $1,050 in 2013, for WSU and UW).  I am myself a product of a state school; my decision was heavily influenced by the fact that it was so much cheaper than the private school options.  That said, to my chagrin, Becker and Posner make a strong case for increasing public university tuition as a policy matter, and the magnitude of our state's budget problem makes increases highly likely.