Montana universities rich in value, poor in funding

We have recently been inundated with news and commentary about high tuition in the Montana University System. Tuition is rightfully a concern for all citizens of our state – students and nonstudents alike. The public usually assumes we have a tuition problem because the University System is not operating efficiently. That really isn’t the case.

Let’s consider operational efficiency. The best way is to compare our expenditures to a peer group of all the Western states – less California but including North and South Dakota. In that group, there are 34 doctoral/research institutions (two in Montana and 32 in the other states). The two Montana institutions spent $10,592 per FTE student, while the other schools spent $14,139 per FTE student. The math is simple, in Montana we spend 75 percent of what the average is for similar institutions in other Western states. Montana’s University System is delivering more bang for the buck than the systems in any of those states. So why is there a tuition problem?

Tuition increases

The unfortunate fact is that over the past 15 years we Montanans have allowed our elected officials to seriously erode support for the University System. The numbers are striking. Between 1992 and 2004 total personal income in Montana increased by 84 percent and general fund appropriations increased by 30 percent. Yet during that same period, state support for the University System remained essentially flat – growing less than 4 percent. The lack of state support from previous policymakers created a state share decline from 74 percent in 1992 to 42 percent in 2004. This resulted in a dramatic increase in the student share (tuition), which is the primary source of revenue a university has to make up this difference. If the state had simply increased funding for the University System at the same 30 percent rate at which the general fund appropriations increased, the 2004 funding level for our colleges and universities would have been $155 million, and tuition levels would be 40 percent less than they are now.

Does all this make any difference to the average Montanan? You bet it does. By stagnating support for the University System at a time when post-secondary education is more important than ever, our state affected the lives of students, their families and all Montanans. In today’s world, the most constant and statistically supported predictor of financial success is educational attainment. This is true across the spectrum and regardless of the area of work. Post-secondary education -from certificate programs to two-year degrees to four-year degrees and graduate work – is unquestionably the key to improving income levels and job opportunities for our citizens and our state. States with higher levels of educational attainment not only fare better economically, they also benefit from lower public support payments, healthier citizens and lower levels of crime and incarceration.

North Carolina’s example

One can look to North Carolina for a dramatic example of the effects of better funding for higher education. In the early 1980s North Carolina was where Montana unfortunately is right now, near the bottom of the ladder for average income levels. At that time, its per capita personal income was 90 percent that of Montana. In spite of their financial condition, they began to implement a focused public policy initiative grounded in investing in higher education. Twenty years later, per capita income in North Carolina was 118 percent of Montana’s. North Carolina annually spends $308 per citizen on higher education. Montana spends $165. Wouldn’t most of us be happy to pay an additional $143 per person to see our statewide income move to the middle ranks, or better?

To get that done, Montana will need to change the paradigm of the past decade and a half and invest in our university system.

Progress was made in the last Legislative Session, and we need to continue that trend. Let’s make legislators and candidates commit to a position on funding higher education. Don’t let them get away with telling you that they "support education." That is like saying you like apple pie. The question is whether they will commit to funding our public colleges and universities at competitive levels to begin to make up for nearly 15 years of stagnation.

To meet this challenge, we need to work together. We need to ensure that our funding for a quality higher education is fair to students and taxpayers while being sustainable and adequate over the long term. We hold the key to our future in our own hands. We owe it to ourselves, and we owe it to our children.

By STEVE BARRETT

Steve Barrett, a Bozeman attorney, is a member of the Montana Board of Regents http://www.montana.edu/wwwbor/ .

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