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News, Views and Careers for All of Higher Education
Feb. 28, 2006
Happy Days Aren’t Quite Here Again
The state budget picture has been looking better lately, much to the relief of public college officials. Fewer states are pondering big budget cuts or tuition increases — and more governors and legislators are able to sign off on salary increases, program expansions and building plans.
Related stories
- Public Missions, Private Dollars and Ordinary People, Dec. 11
- Recessions That Never End, Oct. 30, 2006
- Keeping Students, Finding Money, April 24, 2006
- Bang for Their Bucks, Jan. 17, 2006
- The Public Trust, April 7, 2005
Don’t get used to it.
A report released Monday by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education warns that states are facing tough times ahead — and a number of factors make college budgets vulnerable. The report looked at projections for state budgets from 2005 through 2013 and found that all states face deficit risks.
When states face tight budgets, colleges almost always feel the pain. Entitlements can’t be cut, health care costs are rising, and law enforcement is seen both as more important and more expensive in the post-9/11 era. Given that many legislators want to protect elementary and secondary education from cuts, higher education is frequently the largest item available for scaling back.
A state-by-state analysis in the report found that 5 of the 10 states with the largest projected deficits are states that do not have an income tax: Nevada, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. The other states in the study’s list of likely deficits are Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Oregon.
New England states and some others in the Northeast (New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland) are projected to have the smallest deficits over the next eight years.
The report was written by Dennis Jones, president of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems.
His concluding comment: “For most states, it is difficult to see a future for higher education that recreates the prosperity of the late 1990s. Colleges and universities — and the students who enroll in them — are more likely to face continued financial strain.”
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Comments
What about other parts of a state’s budget?
A state’s budget has many parts, some as Zumeta writes are fairly mandated. Why, if the problem has been around for 35 years, can’t we address some of those mandated costs, like prisons or health care? Wouldn’t home detention work for non-violent offenders and save money, and there has to be some other way to change health care and medicare as the boomers begin retiring? Perhaps revisting Senator, (then wife) Clinton’s health care plan?
new D.Ed. student @ Penn State, at 9:15 am EST on February 28, 2006
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I have studied public higher education for years and I am increasingly convinced that it is high time for the government to get out of the business of educating anyone. Just look back at the news for the past 35 years and week after week we are inundated with articles like this proclaiming that Armageddon is on the way and that schools have to belt tighten and that future budget cuts are inevitable.
People, “we” can’t have our cake and eat it to. If you want centralized health care, if you want more police protection, if you want better roads, etc. you can’t also have free, excellent college. Who is the tooth fairy that will be willing to provide all of this stuff for free?
For once I want to see someone step up and realize that if this has been a problem for 35 years, then perhaps something is wrong with the system.
Not only that, but colleges have not exactly reined in expenditures ... but at the same time the NET cost of attending a public 4 year in the US has remained FLAT for the past decade (College Board) and it has FALLEN at public 2 years.
This is tiring, particularly for those of us that work hard to improve the education our students are getting. By crying for more funds year after year I fear that the real important things are being overlooked.
Michele, Asst. Professor at College in KY, at 7:15 am EST on February 28, 2006