Bismarck Tribune - North Dakota News - Balancing higher ed costs is top priority

Balancing higher ed costs is top priority

Nov 23, 2008 - 04:05:28 CST

The desire to use the North Dakota's more than $1 billion surplus on many good things will be high. In terms of spending the surplus, the Legislature needs to deal with the basics education, corrections, basic health care for vulnerable citizens and roads and bridges before addressing other valid needs.

Higher education, and the need to reduce the financial burden on students, needs to be one of the budget priorities. A consensus has developed agreeing that North Dakota needs to make the state's colleges and universities more affordable for its citizens.

Recently, four state lawmakers from the Red River Valley proposed the governor freeze tuition at the state's colleges and universities. The board of higher education, in its budget proposal for 2009-11, freezes tuition for two-year schools and limits the four-year institutions to tuition increases of no more than 4 percent, and put $14 million into tuition assistance. Gov. John Hoeven suggests tuition increases might be limited to the rate of inflation, and wants to inject $40 million into tuition assistance.

The state should increase its share of the cost of a college education, reducing tuition and required fees for in-state students, but do so in a way that leads to a more balanced equation in the long term.

The degree to which tuition assistance does not cover tuition and fees, for students with need, often translates to student debt, typically $15,000-$20,000 for a four-year degree. In 2007-08, of 20,346 students who qualified for tuition assistance, only about 4,000 received it, leaving the rest to go to banks for loans.

A student's share of costs (tuition and fees) at the University of North Dakota and North Dakota State University is 60 to 62 percent. At Minot State University, students pay 47 percent of the cost. At Dickinson, Mayville and Valley City, students pay 32 to 51 percent. And at the state two-year campuses, students pay 31 to 51 percent.

There are ranges because tuition varies by institution and by the mission of those institutions. At Bismarck State College, a two-year community college, the school offers associate degrees, retraining of workers, vocational programs like power plant technology and low-cost stepping stones to four-year programs. The board of higher education wants to keep the student share of costs of these programs low. Its goal is a 25 percent student share. At UND and NDSU, students are paying 60 to 62 percent of the costs, and the goal is 40 percent.

In terms of the state share of the cost at colleges and universities, there's a big gap between reality and goal.

By comparison, tuition and required fees at UND and NDSU, in 2007-08, are 5.7 percent below the regional average for resident undergraduate students. At the state's two-year schools, North Dakota runs more than 20 percent above the regional average. Hence, the chancellor of the university system, Bill Goetz, and the board of higher education's desire to freeze tuition at two-year schools, and limit increases at four-year institutions to 4 percent. Even doing that has a price: $11 million.

Obviously, the state wants to maintain a competitive advantage in the region when it comes to tuition.

Officials and lawmakers do not have the luxury of addressing tuition, fees and tuition assistance separately. They are part of an overall budget for higher ed with increases in utility fees and wages and benefits for staff and faculty, among other growing expenses. Then there's the whole business of deferred maintenance. The level of demand for increased funding for higher education will be high, whether as set out by the board of higher education, the governor or lawmakers. It's unlikely that the student-share of higher education, and the state of tuition, will be completely addressed in the upcoming session.

Fortunately, there's a general agreement that tuition and required fees paid by students, as compared to the state share, need to come down. If not reduced at once, then in a regular step-by-step process. It will require a combination of frozen tuition and increased tuition assistance applied until an appropriate balance is reached.

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Comments

I paid for my own education wrote on Nov 24, 2008 12:02 AM:

" Can we make this retro active since I paid for my own education? I don't mind helping, but make it measurable and if you must do something like then, then forgive a portion of the student's loan over a period of 10 years.

My two cents. "

Bob Afett wrote on Nov 23, 2008 9:40 PM:

" The Trib is right on in its analysis here. Higher education is the seed corn of our state -- it produces the next generation of business leaders, promotes cutting edge research, and lays the foundation for the creation of jobs that pay the kind of wages that will keep our kids here. When it is more affordable and accessible, it's not just our students that benefit. Good job, Biz Trib. "

Bis Prof wrote on Nov 23, 2008 4:35 PM:

" Education here is NOT expensive. I'm tired of hearing the whining about the poor poor students! They can afford it! Just make sure I get my raise, and if we have to raise tuition to pay me, then so be it! "

Halatbis wrote on Nov 23, 2008 1:38 PM:

" There must be an agreement with higher education: the State of ND gives you money---you in turn will be managed by a business model. The Deans, Provosts, Presidents, Tenure, and all that stuff goes. The place will be run on a profit , or at the very least, a break even basis. The colleges and universities are not retirement homes. There must be better ways to educate people than the model that has prevailed for a couple of centuries.
It is presumptuous to expect the public to fund, at an ever growing amount of money, a set of institutions that have great difficulty convincing people that the value of the product they are turning out is worth the price. "

Too Many wrote on Nov 23, 2008 10:13 AM:

" How many state funded colleges/universities do we have -- eleven? With only 640,000 people? What city this size would fund this level of nonsense? Here's a novel idea: at a minimum shut down Mayville, Valley City, Williston, Bottineau and Devils Lake and use the surplus to mitigate the impact and give them another mission. "

rr wrote on Nov 23, 2008 9:51 AM:

" this is hardly the priority in ND!!! I would say lowering the mill levy for the public schools would be ahead of this. We keep educating our children to not have jobs here in ND~ time to really take a look at what we are doing and trying to accomplish.

Property taxes are outrageous here-this would be the priority "

Curious wrote on Nov 23, 2008 9:18 AM:

" I'm a curious where the Trib got its facts from, in particular, regarding the claim that our tuition is 5.7% less than the regional average? UNDs tuition is about $230 per credit hour for residents, University of Wyoming is $94 for its residents. A UND education costs its residents 150% more than Wyoming charges for its residents. You may want to look at neighboring Montana as well. Of course, these two states do not have 275 unnecessary colleges and universities which they are funding like ND and all of our little colleges. And Wyoming in particular never squandered its oil and gas taxes like ND has in the past. Wyoming invested it in a trust fund, now they are reaping the rewards and we are paying through the nose. Come on folks, yes we need an increase to education, but don't be hoodwinked by the Board. It's time for them to exercise some real business management.
http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/fsbo/info.asp?p=1731 "

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