SWIERCEK: State budget shouldn’t skimp on much-needed college funding

If you haven't been paying attention to state politics lately, here's an update: The legislature will soon debate the 2009-2011 biennium budget in the coming month. It's going to be rough this year. Nebraska will collect fewer taxes over the next two years than it did in 2008, according to the state's economic forecasting advisory board. Many state programs and department are competing for pieces of what is becoming a quickly shrinking tax-pie.

And it's not looking so good for the University of Nebraska and state college system, both of which are facing smaller-than-expected budget increases. If you're a college student, your education's quality, as well as your wallet's size, may be affected considerably.

Prior to the poor economic outlook the University of Nebraska system had requested a 7.3 percent and 6.8 percent budget increase over the next two years – $71.8 million more than the previous budget. For comparison, the University received approximately a 4 percent increase the past two years.

Gov. Dave Heineman proposed a much smaller increase at 1 percent – only $9.9 million more over the next two years – while the Unicameral's Appropriations Committee proposed a bit more: a 1.5 percent increase, or $14.9 million. Compared to what the University needs, both the governor's and the Appropriations Committee's proposals leave the University of Nebraska far short.

$45 million short, in fact.

And NU isn't alone among state post-secondary institutions. The Nebraska State College System requested 4.9 and 4.7 percent increases. Heineman similarly proposed only a 1 percent increase for state and community colleges.

While those critical of NU's requests have pointed out that the University of Nebraska is still getting an increase in its budget, that small increase won't keep the university system functioning at its present level.

Here's what is included in the university's request, according to the Lincoln Journal Star's Jan. 16 report: $26.9 million to pay a 2.5 increase in faculty salaries and benefits, $10.1 million toward health insurance, $15.5 million for utilities, building operation and maintenance, $6 million for NU's Programs of Excellence, $2 million to improve student and faculty diversity, $2 million for need-based financial aid and $1.5 million to create a College of Nursing branch of the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Norfolk.

Approximately 80 percent of NU's budget pays the salaries and benefits for the system's 14,000 faculty and staff. Faculty pay raises at UNL and UNK have yet to be determined, but NU is locked into a 3.8 percent salary increase for faculty at UNO.

Both Heineman's $9.9 million proposal and the Appropriations Committee's $14.9 million won't come close to financing the 2.5 percent increase in faculty salary and benefits at UNL. It's not even enough to cover utilities and building maintenance. And expanding need-based financial aid? Don't expect too much.

University officials, expecting the worst, have been directing departments to plan for hypothetical 5 percent budget cuts. Many departments took proactive measures months earlier by cutting down on travel expenses, office supplies and energy consumption. While these cuts will help, it's only a small part of a broader problem.

We still won't have the money the university needs.

So what'll happen? NU President J.B. Milliken testified to the legislature's Appropriations Committee that between 300 and 600 NU jobs could be eliminated. That alone isn't good news in the midst of a recession.

Current and future college students will be affected and bear the greatest burden. Course offerings may be cut and tuition is guaranteed to increase – although the exact amount won't be known for some time.

Yet higher tuition dollars alone won't solve the problem, either. Tuition has increased 5 to 6 percent each year since 2005. But even if tuition increases at 5 percent over the next two years, the University of Nebraska's needs will still fall short by more than $23 million.

Budget cuts earlier this decade forced the elimination of numerous academic programs, slashed course offerings and dramatically increased tuition. Tuition rose 10 percent in 2001 and 2002, 15 percent in 2003 and 12 percent in 2004. It's painful to note that tuition has more than doubled in the past decade. In-state students at UNL paid only $78.50 per credit hour in 1998. Moreover, college costs have outpaced need-based financial aid over that same decade.

The unfortunate effect is that tuition increases are hindering many Nebraskans from fully pursuing a college education, which is all the more true during this economic downturn. And the average college student who graduates today enters the workforce with more than $20,000 in debt. The growing financial burden to attend college in Nebraska is deeply problematic considering our state colleges' mission is to make higher education accessible to all Nebraskans.

While the precise amount that NU should or shouldn't receive this year is certainly debatable, what isn't debatable is that college students shouldn't bear the brunt of budget shortfalls in the form of skyrocketing tuition, the elimination of programs and slashed course offerings. If we want to maintain a competitive workforce we need to adequately fund our state's post-secondary institutions and strive to make equal access to higher education a reality. Nebraska struggles enough as it is to keep young Nebraskans in Nebraska.

The approaching budget debate will show us how much our state leaders truly value access to affordable higher education in Nebraska.

Nicholas Swiercek is a graduate student studying history. Reach him at nicswiercek@dailynebraskan.com.