Tuesday was another gloomy day for higher education.
“It’s not a happy time for any of us,” said Rep. Afton Bradshaw, R-Salt Lake, at the beginning of the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee meeting, before turning to state analyst Boyd Garriott and telling him to “take it away.”
Before the end of the meeting lawmakers approved an additional $11.8 million trimming of the state’s colleges and universities already skinny budgets.
More than $1.8 million was cut on the current 2002 fiscal year budget adding to the previous $25 million systemwide cuts given out since May 2001. In fiscal year 2003, lawmakers slashed an additional $10 million.
The cuts come after Gov. Mike Leavitt announced the state tax revenue shortfall had not rebounded, but is still sliding. State budget analysts said that in the last quarter the shortfall fell an additional $50 million?totaling $256 million.
Members of the higher education committee faced the task of deciding where the state’s institutions can handle more cuts.
The committee quickly granted institution presidents the ability to decide where to cut the additional $1.8 million for the current year. However, the second cut proposal came after hours of debate and multiple amendments to the original proposals.
Representatives from the state institutions pleaded with lawmakers to reject the recommendations of the state analysts, which would cut selected programs at each state institution.
The original plan included $12.5 million in cuts to higher education for the 2003 fiscal year. These cuts would have reduced the general fund support of research centers by almost $1 million, cut $380,000 from the Master’s of Business Administration programs at Weber State University and Southern Utah University as well as cuts to many other specified programs across the state. The proposal also increased graduate tuition and made it more difficult for out-of-state students to receive residency status, forcing them to pay higher tuition rates, creating additional state funding.
To the relief of many institutional presidents and Regents, lawmakers could not agree upon cuts to any specific program.
Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, co-chair of the education committee, recommended changing the 2003 cut to $10 million, because he believes that $12.5 million is an unfair percentage to require of higher education.
The committee agreed on a plan that would split the cuts between each university according to the portion of state dollars they receive.
The U’s portion of next year’s cut is still unknown, but for the current year the U lost another $700,000.
Previously, U President Bernie Machen took those cuts and spread them out across the board, and Vice President for Budget and Planning Paul Brinkman said he will most likely do the same thing with the new cuts. But as for next year, Brinkman said he does not yet know where that money will come from.
Large enrollment increases left unfunded by the state for two years puts students in the classroom without money to pay for their instruction.
Hillyard pointed-out that to fully compensate for unpaid state support students would face a 22 percent tuition increase.
“Those are figures that make me glad my children all have degrees,” Hillyard said.
The Executive Appropriations Committee will meet tomorrow to discuss the higher education committee’s decision.