"Field Notes" is an occasional Connect column covering practical and philosophical issues facing admissions and registrar professionals. The columns are authored by various AACRAO members. If you have an idea for a column and would like to contribute, please send an email to the editor at connect@aacrao.org.
By Nancy J. Walsh, Director of Admissions Operations, Undergraduate Admissions, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
It seems that you can’t go a day without reading or hearing about another state that is cutting funding for higher education and/or a university raising tuition to help combat reduced state funding. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report early this year stating that America’s public colleges and universities currently are receiving more money from their students than from state sources. The GAO report included data showing that from fiscal years 2003-2012 state funding decreased by 12 percent while median tuition rose 55 percent across public colleges and universities.
Many public colleges and universities are doing their best to survive since the recession hit around the end of the first decade of the 21st century. At that time, the first wave of major state funding cuts was felt along with the steady rise in tuition among many public colleges and universities. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a report in May 2014 stating that although some states have restored or increased funding since the recession, all but two states (Alaska and North Dakota) are spending less per student than prior to the recession. There are also a handful of states that are continuing deep cuts in higher education, most namely Arizona, California, Illinois, Louisiana and Wisconsin based on recent articles.
Arizona’s legislature recently passed a nearly $100 million budget cut for higher education, which includes eliminating funding completely for several community colleges. The most recent announcement is not the first cut to higher education in Arizona since the recession hit; Wisconsin has proposed budget cuts to public universities in the range of $300 million over the next two years, and bordering Illinois’ newly elected governor included a $387 million reduction to state universities in his budget address. Louisiana has also been dealing with significant budget cuts to higher education in recent years.
And, since the recession, California has also endured reduced state funding and increased tuition. In what seems to be bold approach, the president of the University of California system, Janet Napolitano announced her universities may need to cap resident enrollment while allowing for more non-resident students to enroll who typically pay a much higher tuition rate pending budget talks with the governor. While this may sound like a unique approach, many public colleges and universities have altered their enrollment patterns in trying to generate as much tuition revenue as possible. Many have also turned to cutting staff and eliminating programs which results in a reduced educational experience for students.
Arguably, the most worrisome outcome of the cuts to higher education is with increased tuition costs which are passed on to families and students. And, this is at a time when there is a push across the country to have many more college educated individuals in the workforce. Families and students are clearly taking on more debt to fund their college educations based on multiple reports over the last several years. Many also worry that some students simply cannot afford to attend college or may choose a less-expensive, less-selective college or university to help with debt reduction.
What can we, as AACRAO members, do to help this worrisome situation? We must continue to champion the importance of providing a top notch educational experience at the lowest cost possible. Yes, our hands are tied at many levels as very few of us are directly involved in budget and tuition talks, but try to let your voices be heard, whether it’s with your state representatives or on your campus. We cannot stand by and allow public higher education to turn into something much different than what its core purpose is–giving students a diverse, challenging and quality educational experience to prepare our young citizens for life after the degree is awarded, hopefully with as little debt as possible.