Direct Hit to Higher Education
The Denver Post
September 26, 2004

If you think higher education, and your kids' college opportunities, took a hit last year, wait until this year. The Colorado Legislature faces more budget problems and will probably fix them, once again, on the backs of our colleges and universities. And, therefore, on the backs of students and their families who either can't afford the tuition or simply won't find a room at the higher education inn.

The health of our economy and the availability of good jobs are directly related to the quality and accessibility of higher education. Whether you're a start-up or a relocating company, you want a great higher education system to help support your research needs, solve business problems, and provide well-trained employees. Without excellent colleges and universities, Colorado is unattractive economically.

Things shouldn't be this way. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Colorado is one of the most highly educated states in the country. We have a higher percentage of citizens with bachelor's degrees than any other state and rank near the top with graduate degrees. Our per capita income is above the national average. So, we should have the interest and the capacity to have one of the best higher education systems in the country. But, we're simply not providing enough resources to our institutions to do that.

Let's look at some of the numbers, also reported in the Chronicle. Faculty salaries (2000 - 2001 data) at Colorado's public universities were slightly above the national average, but at our four- and two-year colleges, significantly below. That makes recruiting and keeping top professors very difficult. Our average tuition per student is below the national average, which sounds great until you realize that the combination of low tuition and low levels of state funding severely underfund our schools. In the 2002-3 school year, for example, Colorado's four-year college tuition averaged $3102 per student, while other states our size averaged from $3405 to $6306 per student. In 2003-4, other states our size funded their higher education systems at 1.5 to 2 times Colorado's funding level.

What has our political leadership decided to do about our competitive disadvantage? Use vouchers, giving state aid to students rather than the institutions. This might make at least some sense if the vouchers equaled what the state contribution had formerly been. But, at the University of Colorado, vouchers will provide only about two-thirds of what the state formerly paid per student. Either tuition has to go up to make up the difference or the resources available to educate our students go down. Either families shell out more money or the quality of education-the best faculty, lab facilities, libraries, and technology-declines. Vouchers are simply a way to cut state funding for higher education. Bad news for all of us.

Take a look at what the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation says in its "Breakthrough Denver" brochure, it's economic development plan. "Not since the 1980's has recession ravaged Colorado as it has in the last three years. Never have we faced economic challenges of the magnitude we're dealing with now." They go on to cite 80,000 jobs and $3 billion of wealth lost since 1999. They say metro Denver is ranked as an "also ran" by corporate executives and point out the "erosion of our educational and workforce competitiveness." Not a pretty record. And, it's not just metro Denver, but all of Colorado, that is suffering.

The Taxpayers Bill of Rights and Amendment 23, which guarantees funding for K-12 education, are generally cited as responsible for our fiscal mess. Indeed they are. But, it's up to our political leadership to fix it. So far, they haven't had the courage to do so. Meanwhile, our once great higher education system-the source of opportunity for our kids and our businesses-is heading towards catastrophe. When our leadership fails us, we, the people, must give them the backbone to do what's right. Now's the time to let them know we want them to lead, not cower, in the face of our huge financial problems and the rapid decline of our higher education system.