Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 25, 1990 TAG: 9003222548
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAMES D. McCOMAS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Unfortunately, the foundation of that pre-eminence could be eroded if recent budget actions are continued in future years.
As a recent editorial in the Roanoke Times & World-News correctly pointed out, higher education took a "big budget hit" in the just-completed session of the General Assembly. In a $26 billion biennial budget, higher education accounts for 16 percent. But in the calculations that went into correcting the state's budget shortfall, higher education absorbed 42 percent of the cuts. That amounts to a reduction of $93.4 million in the base budgets of the state's colleges and universities. Reductions of this size could have a significant impact on the quality and reputation of our universities and, as the Times & World-News notes, "stall one of the engines that has driven the state's economic growth."
While it is only fair that higher education should share in the challenge of building a balanced state budget when revenues are lagging, it is disappointing that so few seem to be aware of or concerned that the nationally ranked programs cited earlier, and additional ones recognized by other reference groups, can slip in quality and in competitiveness in a very short time.
Few states equal Virginia in quality and national and international reputation of their public universities. Three Virginia universities are among the nation's top 100 research universities - University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia Tech - with Old Dominion University making new and impressive gains. (James Madison and Mary Washington are recognized for their quality undergraduate programs and George Mason has gained national recognition in economics and the stride made by its law school; William and Mary has long been recognized for its outstanding undergraduate and graduate programs.)
Excellence of this caliber has enabled Virginia to attract many of the country's best and brightest students. Virginia Tech now ranks among the top 20 universities in the nation for the number of national merit scholars enrolling. This includes a significant brain migration that offers additional benefits as well: 20 to 25 percent of our out-of-state graduate students will ultimately settle in Virginia.
The commonwealth has, commendably, been willing to invest in innovation: an equipment trust fund; the eminent-scholars program; economic development and academic bridges between universities and the Center for Innovative Technology; and competitive salaries for our faculty.
However laudable these innovations are, what may surprise many people is that these gains have been achieved during a 10-year period when the state's colleges and universities have received level funding for their general operating budgets - even excluding any real increases for inflation. That is why the state's 5 to 6 percent reduction in operating budgets over the course of the upcoming biennium will hit so hard and threaten the continuing excellence of our programs.
While higher education received adjustments for inflation in 1980-81 and 1981-82, three subsequent reversions over the course of the next two succeeding years eliminated any advantage that had been gained. Then in 1984, the state adopted a policy of level funding for all operating budgets. Because of the reversions, the level-funding policy took effect when operating budgets had been pushed back to 1980-81 levels. Subtracting an additional 5 to 6 percent will push higher education back even further.
Virginia has also begun to lose ground to its peer institutions in the South. A recent report by the Southern Regional Education Board shows that per-student funding in Virginia's public four-year universities and colleges, on average, was $4,281, or $238 a year less than the regional average. South Carolina and Texas are funded at the SREB average and five states (Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina and Tennessee) are above that average.
Also to emerge this year were serious questions about the benefits of the cost of graduate education and the number of out-of-state undergraduate students attending Virginia's universities. The commonwealth benefits financially and academically by the presence of these students - a fact that is often overlooked, but not by local merchants. The state's three top research universities together spend more than $228.5 million annually on research. These universities could not attract this level of support from private industry and government without the best graduate students available. Efforts to restrict graduate and out-of-state undergraduate students will cost the state considerably more in lost revenue.
It is unfortunate if our highly competitive salaries have created a false sense of affluence in our program and operating budgets. But that flexibility simply does not exist. While the state's fiscal constraints are real and significant, efforts need to be made to address these immediate concerns without undercutting the foundation of the state's long-term prosperity.
In a world where manufacturing and service industries can be shifted almost overnight around the globe, education remains the most highly prized of America's commodities. And though Virginia has provided leadership to higher education since the founding of the country, the national reputation we enjoy is fragile and will require a similar vision and commitment in order to sustain us into the 21st century.
by CNB