As I pointed out yesterday, it's not the cost of a public university education that's skyrocketing in Washington state, it's the price. For example, in constant dollars, spending per student at the University of Washington has remained relatively flat over the past couple decades. At the same time, the legislature has slashed higher education funding, forcing the UW and our other public college and universities to make up the difference through higher tuition.

In 1990, the state subsidized almost 80 percent of the cost of a resident baccalaureate degree. Today, the state's share has fallen to 30 percent.

So, how much of an impact has this funding shift had on the typical Washington family? Well, with median family income almost completely stagnant, it turns out, quite a lot:

Adjusted for inflation, the price of UW tuition has more than tripled since 1989, while median income has barely budged, meaning that tuition eats up an increasingly larger portion of a typical family's income year after year. For example, UW's $3,983 in tuition and fees for the 2001-02 academic year consumed 8.7 percent of the 2001 median Washington state income of $45,761. A mere decade later, the UW's $10,574 in tuition and fees for the 2011-12 academic year chews up over 19.2 percent of the estimated $55,000 of 2011 median income.

We're getting to the point were the ticket into the middle class—a college degree—will soon be unaffordable to children of the middle class.