Writing in the Rocky Mountain News, outgoing University of Colorado president Hank Brown observes that higher ed in Colorado has had to make do with less and less state support. “In the early 1970s,” he writes, “higher education was 27 percent of the state budget; today, it is down to near 12 percent and falling.” Then he asks, “What is the answer?”

First, we should ask if there is a problem. Is there the slightest bit of evidence that students in Colorado public universities are learning less than they used to? Less than students in other states where governmental funding is more generous? I’m not aware of any.

It seems apparent that state universities in Colorado have managed to adapt to an atmosphere less rich in government funds, much as people who live high in the Andes adapt to an atmosphere less rich in oxygen.

What Colorado has going for it is the Taxpayers Bill of Rights, which restrains the propensity of politicians to ladle money around capriciously. I suggest that people in other states ought to be demanding similar legislation. In fact, TABOR has been proposed in other states, but defeated by the big spending lobbies.