Spring Break
Don't You Dare Fund My Education
Drew Haugen
Issue date: 4/9/07 Section: Opinion
Last week, campus and political communities erupted in criticism of President Larry Penley's proposed amendment to the Colorado state budget for $34 million in additional spending authority for Colorado State University.
But if anyone should be catching heat during the fallout of Bob Bacon and President Penley's failed amendment to the state budget it should be the voters, politicians, and other actors who have created a negative political environment around the funding of higher education in the state of Colorado.
When Penley sought an amendment to the state budget two weeks ago, he was not only undeserving of the outpouring of criticism he received, but was also discouraged in his efforts to bring something to CSU we are in dire need of: Funding.
Let's face facts: With the intolerable state of disrepair of Colorado's higher education funding (ranked 48th in the nation in per capita funding), reparative funding needs to come from somewhere.
And while state subsidies should be stepped up, that may mean footing some of the bill by raising tuition, as well.
Colorado has seen a steady decrease in state funding for higher education since 1992, when TABOR spending limits came into effect. And unlike K-12 education, whose funding is somewhat protected under the state constitution, higher education has been subject to state budget cut after state budget cut.
With decreased funding from the state, CSU has had to fight to keep the education it offers on par with peer institutions. But in the process, a disparity has developed. In fact, that gap is estimated to be about $832 million dollars, just for the state of Colorado to catch up to the funding of peer institutions in other states.
As Penley correctly noted last week in the Denver Post: "We can no longer afford to give away an education at one of the state's top research universities at 60 percent of the cost and remain competitive or offer the high-quality education our students deserve."
But if anyone should be catching heat during the fallout of Bob Bacon and President Penley's failed amendment to the state budget it should be the voters, politicians, and other actors who have created a negative political environment around the funding of higher education in the state of Colorado.
When Penley sought an amendment to the state budget two weeks ago, he was not only undeserving of the outpouring of criticism he received, but was also discouraged in his efforts to bring something to CSU we are in dire need of: Funding.
Let's face facts: With the intolerable state of disrepair of Colorado's higher education funding (ranked 48th in the nation in per capita funding), reparative funding needs to come from somewhere.
And while state subsidies should be stepped up, that may mean footing some of the bill by raising tuition, as well.
Colorado has seen a steady decrease in state funding for higher education since 1992, when TABOR spending limits came into effect. And unlike K-12 education, whose funding is somewhat protected under the state constitution, higher education has been subject to state budget cut after state budget cut.
With decreased funding from the state, CSU has had to fight to keep the education it offers on par with peer institutions. But in the process, a disparity has developed. In fact, that gap is estimated to be about $832 million dollars, just for the state of Colorado to catch up to the funding of peer institutions in other states.
As Penley correctly noted last week in the Denver Post: "We can no longer afford to give away an education at one of the state's top research universities at 60 percent of the cost and remain competitive or offer the high-quality education our students deserve."
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Susan
posted 4/09/07 @ 7:48 AM MST
Guess it has not occured to anyone to finetooth comb the school (and state!) budgets, find the waste and redundancy,work on efficiency and find a way to make the budget work for us. (Continued…)
brian
posted 4/11/07 @ 1:00 PM MST
either that or the waste they have identified in the budget is the school, which might explain why money has been taken in the past from higher education to fund prisons. (Continued…)
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