Investment in higher ed will pay off -University cuts will shut out Montanans

Working for a better future for our children, our grandchildren. Improving the quality of living.
Standing up for what we believe. Offering a hand up rather than a hand out. These are core Montana
traditions and values.

By KIM GILLAN
Montana State Representative

These shared values contributed to the founding of Montana’s original public higher education institutions more than 100
years ago. The public was willing to invest tax dollars in higher education, because, among other things, they believed it
would help our state grow and prosper. Now, 100 years later, families across Montana have been able to access affordable,
quality higher education – universities, four- and two-year institutions, technology training and vocational education.

New spring wheat variety

Taxpayer investment in public higher education has paid off – for individuals, for communities, for businesses and for our
agricultural economy. For example, agricultural research has resulted in more than 20 new crop varieties being released to
Montana producers in the past 10 years. Among these, McNeil spring wheat offers an increased yield of one bushel per acre,
generating $4.5 million in additional income.
Montana State University-Billings serves as critical infrastructure to our region. With 4,400 students and 915 full- and
part-time jobs, MSU-B is the region’s sixth largest employer. Each year, $2 million in federal or private grant funds come to
MSU-B. Another $831,000 is generated for the local economy by visiting parents, conference attendees and participants in
campus events.
The entire Montana University System attracts more than $120 million annually in federal and private research contracts.

Raising family incomes

For the individuals who attend MSU-B (including the College of Technology), post secondary education serves as an
important step for a better future. More than 60 percent of the students are among the first in their families to attend college.
Upon graduation, students have an average starting salary of $27,600. This is several thousand dollars higher than Montana’s
per capita income and often more than their parents’ income. The typical MSU-B student, who is older and already working
part-time, comes from a family with an income below the state’s per capita income. One by one, these Montanans are working
to improve themselves, to improve the businesses where they work and, over time, improve Montana’s economy.

The recent budget cuts to higher education proposed by the governor and affirmed by the Legislature are troubling.
These cuts sliced $12.4 million or 8.4 percent of state support; ignoring the importance of affordable higher education to
Montana families and to our economic future.
Until 1971, undergraduate tuition for Montanans was free. State support (per resident student) now falls below 1992
levels ($4,182 now versus $4,286 then). During the past decade, resident tuition has risen more than 117 percent ($1,348 a
year to $2,929). Tuition and federal funding have helped keep our public higher education system afloat. Montana’s per capita
appropriation for higher education is $157 compared with Idaho $229; Utah $242; North Dakota $287; and Wyoming $310.
Declining support takes a heavy toll upon Montana students and their families. The tuition surcharges needed to offset
budget cuts will cause sticker shock. Students will be paying more and getting less – fewer class offerings, larger class
sizes, equipment and library cutbacks. For some students and their parents, the hope for a better future, will have to be
postponed or abandoned.

These cuts also take their toll on Montana’s economic development efforts. Without enough Montanans pursuing
additional training or studies, our ability to support existing businesses, attract new businesses and compete in the global
market suffers. Montana’s University System has proven itself to be a strong engine for economic development; a magnet for
firms dependent upon technical expertise and skills.
Why should every Montanan be concerned about the affordability and quality of higher education in our state?

Simply put, we cannot afford to lose any more of the state’s talent pool to out-of-state employers or colleges. We need
these talents and skills at home – to work in our hospitals, our factories, our financial operations, our farms/ranches and our
schools. We need these students to stay and reinvest in our state. We need to continue to work for a better future for
everyone.

Allan Greenspan said: "We will be successful only to the extent that we cultivate, develop and wisely deploy our
intellectual capital. Education is everything."

Kim Gillan of Billings is Montana House minority leader.

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University cuts will shut out Montanans

Gazette Editorial

The burden of Montana’s dwindling state support for higher education is borne by those least able to
pay: Montanans with little income who need a publicly supported university to have access to higher
education.
According to a memo Montana State University-Billings Chancellor Ron Sexton wrote last week, state funding cuts made
in the special session will have to be made up largely with a tuition surcharge, effective for the fall and spring semesters.
This will cost full-time students $87.36 at the main MSU-Billings campus each semester and $56.16 a semester for full-time
students at the College of Technology. Tuition increases may be higher at other university campuses.

Dodging the impact

To their credit, Sexton and the MSU-Billings budget committee found ways to absorb a 3.5 percent funding cut in June
without raising tuition. A large number of MSU-Billings students are nontraditional students, people raising families and going to
school at the same time. Sexton sought to avoid adding to the financial burden of these struggling students.
Sure, the University System can keep raising tuition to cover more of its costs. And those wealthier out-of-state students
may keep paying it. But the majority of Montana students, those who cannot afford the full cost of their education, will be
gradually shut out.

This is the antithesis of the public university system’s mission.
Publicly supported higher education is the major avenue for encouraging state residents into careers that are needed in
Montana’s economy. Publicly supported higher education is a route to better-paying jobs, which allow the university-trained
workers to support the state that invested in their education. Higher education pays the public back.

Much work needed

Montana provides less support for higher education than neighboring states, according to every measure identified by
the Joint Subcommittee on Post-secondary Education. The 2003 Legislature needs to act on this objective information. The
system and the Legislature must start working together for quality, accessible education.
The case for publicly supported higher education must be made to the public and to legislators. This trend toward a
university exclusively for those who can afford full tuition must be reversed.

College comparisons

Among the states of Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington,
Wyoming and Montana, Montana stands out as the one putting the least state money into higher education,
regardless of how the contribution is measured.

Per capita state spending on higher ed in 2001 ranged from a high of $293 in Wyoming to a low of $149 in
Montana.
State appropriations per $1,000 of personal income ranged from a high of $11.94 in North Dakota to a low of
$5.40 in Colorado with an average of $8.74. Montana was at $6.96.

Between 1992 and 2002 state spending on higher ed increased an average of 51.8 percent among Montana’s
nine peer states. Utah posted the biggest increase with 85.7 percent; Montana funding increased a
minuscule 7 percent. However, this summer’s cuts have reduced Montana University System funding so
much that it is getting less state money for fiscal 2003 than it received in 1992.

As a percentage of the state’s total general fund appropriations, higher ed in 2000 ranged from 20.6 percent in
North Dakota to a low of 11.4 percent in Montana. The nine peer states’ average was 15.2 percent.
Sources: Illinois State University and the National Association of State Budget Officers

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