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A slow and steady decline in state funding for higher educationput Missouri second from the bottom in terms of revenue available per student from 2005 to 2010. KSMU's Missy Shelton talks with the Deputy Commissioner of Higher Education to gain some perspective on state spending for colleges and universities, and what the revenue declinemeans for students.
I’m Missy Shelton for Sense of Community on KSMU. This morning, we looked at how an early childhood education program is adjusting to the realities of having less money from the state. This afternoon, we talk with an expert to get the long view of funding for public universities and community colleges in Missouri. Last week, I sat down with Paul Wagner, Missouri’s Deputy Commissioner of Higher Education. He has about a decade and a half of experience working on education funding in a variety of positions for the state. We met in a state office building in Jefferson City.
Shelton: Give me a snapshot of what has happened to higher education funding over the last decade or so.
Wagner: Over the last decade, it’s been a slow erosion, I guess you could say. We hit a high point there in the late 1990’s when the state had a very healthy revenue situation. Then there were withholdings early in the 2000’s. There was a brief recovery in 2005 or so. Then, with the latest recession, it’s just been downhill from there in terms of state support.
Shelton: And this is not just four year colleges, but community colleges as well.
Wagner: Yes, all the institutions have pretty much been treated the same way over the years, moving up and down equivalently.
Shelton: And over that time period, especially in recent years, as this decline has happened in state funding, how have you seen universities and community colleges respond to that?
Wagner: Well, we saw some pretty dramatic tuition increases in the early 2000’s when there were mid-year budget cuts and then core cuts the next year. Part of the legislature’s response to that was to pass a law limiting the institutions’ ability to increase tuition without a waiver from us here at the department. Since that law has been in effect, we’ve had two years where the schools have gone ahead and cut a deal with the governor, in exchange for some more favorable consideration on the state funding side—that they would hold tuition flat. It’s the governor’s very high priority on affordability in education, so it’s been a high priority of his to keep tuition low. So, really the tuition increases have been non-existent for the past two years because of the governor’s work. Then this year, with a seven percent cut in state funding on top of five percent last year, we’re expecting tuition increases for the fall.
Shelton: In terms of the programs that universities and community colleges are able to offer and the services, has there been any research or evaluation of what has happened in terms of what’s available to students because of the funding cuts.
Wagner: Like I said, this has been a slow steady decline in the total amount of resources schools have available to them. They’ve been fighting this battle for a while. It’s not new to them. In the more recent past, institutions have done the common things to delay maintenance, to not fill positions, to do everything they can to reduce their spending but not touch the classroom. Now, we’re to the point, some schools are already there, where the lack of resources is starting to impact the classroom. We’re seeing larger class sizes, more of a reliance on adjunct professors as opposed to full-time professors, in addition to some reduced student services and staffing levels.
Shelton: Have you seen any significant changes in terms of program offerings because of budget issues?
Wagner: I don’t think there’s been a whole lot in terms of fewer programs being offered. But what we end up having are de facto enrollment limits on certain programs. For example, in nursing all across the state, institutions have highly qualified, motivated students wanting to get into their nursing programs but they just don’t have the resources to offer another class that requires another faculty member and more clinical time. So, really, it’s more a matter of not being able to offer to as many students the programs that do exist because we have seen consistent enrollment increases across the state in the four year universities and the community colleges. It’s more of a case by case basis as far as where they might have over-subscribed programs. Certainly, in the healthcare fields, the demand is two ways. There’s a demand in the workforce. There are jobs available but there’s a bottleneck in between the student demand and the workplace demand because of the institutions’ lack of resources to produce the number of graduates that are needed in some of those key fields.
Shelton: Talk to me about where Missouri falls when you look nationally at state spending on higher education. I understand we’re very close to the bottom. There was new data that came out just recently on that.
Wagner: The data that had come out recently where Missouri really stood out was in the total educational revenue per student that our institutions have, and more particularly, the five year percent change. So, since 2005 to 2010, which is the time period of this study, Missouri’s total revenue per student had declined more than all but one state. Many states had increased, some states had declined. Missouri saw a dramatic decline in the total amount of revenue they have available per student.
Shelton: We’ve talked about the negative implications of the funding cuts. Have you heard from any institutions that these tough budget times have made them think more about priorities—and that there could be a silver lining to this process?
Wagner: In terms of a silver lining, there certainly is a silver lining for many students because tuition has been held down. Really the story on the decrease in educational revenue, Missouri stands out because the governor and the institution presidents have cooperated closely to keep tuition low. So, that’s certainly a benefit to the students for that. I think institutional leaders are always eager to find any kind of impetus they can to make changes that they think are necessary. Sometimes it’s difficult to make changes in a large organization like a college or university, so having these kinds of external pressures can help catalyze some change and self-reflection on campuses, and I think that’s always a healthy thing.
Shelton: Thanks for your time and for helping us understand these issues a little better.
