The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Tuition increase probable
The state’s current fiscal problems will likely soon have a huge impact on the wallets of Western State College students.
On Friday, November 6, Colorado governor Bill Ritter revealed his budget proposal for 2010-2011. In addition to taxing candy and soda to help balance the budget, Ritter also proposed lopping $56 million from higher education, putting Western State College in a pinch. And it will likely be students shouldering the burden next year.
This fall, the state made $226 million in cuts to higher education funding as they adjusted to revenue shortfalls. Fortunately for the state’s colleges, Ritter has proposed allocating $377 million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds to keep total funding for higher education institutions at the original $706 million. ARRA funds are federal stimulus dollars.
Ritter’s 2010-2011 budget proposal includes an appropriation to higher education institutions of $650 million, including $95 million in ARRA funds. The $56 million difference amounts to an 8 percent reduction in funding.
“If this goes through, we will likely see a 9 percent increase in resident tuition, which will help mitigate cuts, but won’t help with mandatory cost increases like utility costs, and salary increases that help with staff recruitment and retention,” said Western’s vice president for finance and administration Brad Baca. “We didn’t do any salary increases last year, and if we don’t this year it puts us at a disadvantage.”
Tuition increases paired with diminishing funds available from the state’s College Opportunity Fund (COF) will put in-state students like Cortney Myers at a disadvantage as well. Current in-state tuition for the year is $3,140, including fees. The COF is money from the state that goes to the colleges indirectly through a process where students apply to the state, and then authorize its usage with the college.
For example, the COF equates to an approximate $1,020 reduction in tuition per semester for in-state students, according to Tracey Koehler, Western’s director of public relations and communications. But the COF is susceptible to state cuts as well—the value of COF dropped from $92 per credit hour in 2008-2009 to $68 per credit hour in 2009-2010.
“A 9 percent increase [in tuition] would roughly mean about another $220 per semester for me,” Myers said. “But that’s counting on the College Opportunity Fund remaining stable, and [Myers’ COF allocation] decreased by about $290 from the spring to fall semesters this year. I can’t say I’ll be surprised if it continues to decrease at a similar rate.”
According to Baca, it will be up to the Department of Higher Education to determine how the state cuts will be divvied up between the institutions. Baca said that, for example, if Western accounts for 1.5 percent of the higher education budget, than the school would likely absorb 1.5 percent of the $56 million shortfall, which amounts to approximately $900,000. Unfortunately, it sounds like just the beginning of more hardship for Colorado’s higher education institutions.
“If we project out another year to 2011-2012, we can reasonably expect even further reductions in support for higher education,” said Western’s vice president for academic affairs John Sowell. “The ARRA provides assistance for only three years—last year, this year, and next year—so that support will be gone. There are so many factors yet to play out between now and 2011-2012, that estimating what the state support for higher education might be is difficult. We are anticipating further reductions, and despite all the unknowns, we must plan accordingly.”
What is Myer’s plan for weathering Western’s financial storm? “I’m not sure where the money is going to come from, but I’m sure I’ll be able to squeeze in a few extra wait shifts and clean a few more houses on the side. I try to just keep my focus on graduating in three semesters with a high GPA, a high LSAT score, and a positive mental attitude. Hopefully, it will be enough to earn a scholarship to law school.”
Speaking of post-undergraduate work, on the bright side, Western’s proposed new graduate programs will be self-funded and administered through the Extended Studies program, so they are not as susceptible to similar state budget slashing. According to Sowell, these programs do not receive state funding, and thus are somewhat immune to downturns in state appropriations.
