higher demand, lower supply

Here's an article about the current struggles to get into community college classes.

So many ask: if the demand is high, then why is supply low? Don't more students equal more money? Yes, but not enough money. At De Anza, tuition covers only about 16% of what it costs to educate a student*. That means 84% of the cost has to be paid for elsewhere. Some of that comes from donations and other private sources, but it used to be that much of that money came from the state. Yet the percentage given by the state has gone down since the mid 1970s, and it has really declined in the last few years. In 2006, the state covered 34% of what it cost to educate a student. In 2007, the state gave 31%. It 2009 it dropped to 26%. Basically, public education is getting less and less public funding. Without increased funding, the only option we have is to reduce spending. That means fewer classes.

*I had trouble finding consistent data about all this, so consider the numbers I give as a rough estimate.