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Dayton
Daily News...
Colleges spend more
even as state funding levels off
By Christopher Magan, Staff Writer
Monday, April 18, 2011
COLUMBUS — Despite facing a decline of state support for higher
education funding, colleges and universities across Ohio are spending
more than ever before thanks to growing enrollment, rising tuition and
alternative funding sources.
The proposed 2012 state funding for higher education is back to levels
last seen in 1999, according to a Dayton Daily News budget analysis.
The 13 percent drop comes from the loss of $589 million in stimulus
money Ohio colleges and universities received to help weather the
economic downturn. That funding is not being replaced under Gov. John
Kasich’s proposed budget.
Next year alone, Wright State University will lose $12.7 million in
instruction funds, or 14 percent of its operating budget; Miami
University is cut almost 17 percent, or $16 million, and Sinclair
Community College state funds for instruction fall $5.6 million or 11.6
percent.
Higher education funding has remained flat for much of the last decade,
with the exception of a short-lived, two-year infusion under former
Gov. Ted Strickland’s master plan aimed at increasing enrollment and
graduation rates. When the recession hit, Ohio used federal stimulus
money earmarked for education to avoid considerable cuts, and that
money has run out.
“We know it is going to be a tough couple of years,” said Bruce
Johnson, executive director of the Inter-University Council, which
advocates for Ohio’s largest schools. “We are concerned about
maintaining the quality of our programs.”
But the funding decline hasn’t stopped record growth in spending at
local state colleges and universities. Operating expenses at WSU
climbed 27 percent between 2005 and 2010 and 22 percent at Sinclair.
Ohio State University, the state’s largest, grew from $3 billion to
$4.3 billion, or about 42 percent, during the same time period,
according to data reported by schools to the Ohio Board of Regents.
School leaders say costs associated with the loss of funding will
likely trickle down to students in the form of increased tuition, fees
and larger class sizes. The cost passed on to students to earn a degree
has steadily risen in the last two decades, with students now covering
two-thirds of the total cost.
Ohio now ranks in the bottom third nationally for the amount of state
funding per student, according to the 2010 State Higher Education
Executive Officers finance report.
Kasich has said he wants to maintain the current 3.5 percent cap on
tuition increases, calling the steadily rising cost of higher education
unsustainable.
“Double-digit cuts and a single-digit tuition increase is going to be
difficult,” Johnson said.
Statewide, schools will receive roughly 35 percent of their budgets for
instruction from the state, down from 46 percent in 2005, according to
instruction and general expense data collected by the Ohio Board of
Regents. The cuts come as Ohio’s university system continues to see
record pace student enrollment.
Jim Petro, the new Ohio Board of Regents chancellor, will make a
proposal in the coming months to give some universities “charter”
status, reducing state oversight and giving schools more authority over
tuition and other costs that could help soften the blow.
The main campus universities that would be most eligible for charter
status are the biggest losers with $205 million, or 14.4 percent, worth
of funding reductions proposed for next year.
Leaders from WSU, Miami, University of Cincinnati and OSU have all
signaled they are interested in the charter idea even if it might mean
less state funding. Giving schools charter status could result in
higher tuition, but Johnson believes some schools would stay near the
3.5 percent cap to remain affordable.
Charter status is unlikely to ease the pain for community colleges,
which are set to lose $39.5 million, or 9 percent, of the state
instruction funding. These colleges have a growing role in the state’s
higher education system, becoming the focal point for remedial courses
to prepare students who are not quite ready for college. They also are
often the entry point for students who cannot afford four years of
tuition at a state university.
Community colleges are used to being flexible and working within tight
budgets, said Jeff Boudouris, Sinclair’s chief financial officer, and
Madeline Iseli, vice president of advancement.
Sinclair has a “rainy day” fund to offset some cuts, but Boudouris and
Iseli say they will be looking at every possible cost savings. Both
agree larger classes and higher tuition will likely impact students.
“It becomes an exercise of finer and finer tuning,” Iseli said. “We
have become masters of that type of budgeting.”
Read it at the Dayton Daily News
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