Corzine Budget & Higher Education
By Hirsch, Rod
Having come to grips with the state’s ongoing fiscal woes, educators and administrators at the state’s public colleges and universities are grateful that Governor Jon Corzine has tried to reverse the troubling trend of budget cuts that continues to threaten the quality of higher education.
However, Corzine’s proposed $33.2 billion state budget proposal for fiscal year 2008 still comes up short in helping colleges and universities meet their obligations.
Statewide, Corzine has proposed an increase of $854 million in direct aid for state colleges and universities, $50 million more than the previous year.
But the 2.3 percent increase does not offset the $104 million cut suffered in last year’s budget.
Still, they know it could have been a lot worse.
Corzine set the tone for the budget process in February when he released the budget:
“We have tough choices coming and the public needs to trust that we are working for them – not ourselves, not our friends, not for anyone else. We have to openly debate and defend our priorities, choices, and decisions. And to be more precise, we have to put an end to the midnight spending sprees.”
Corzine, forced to wrestle with the entrenched legacy of budget gimmickry – a longtime staple in Trenton -debt service, civil service contracts, out-of-control property taxes, public school mandates and a laundry list of needy state agencies and departments didn’t have much flexibility.
More than half of the state budget is devoted to property tax relief.
“I am thankful that Governor Corzine recognizes the absolute need for increased support of higher education and am appreciative that he has proposed, despite the state’s significant financial constrants, additional funding for fiscal 2008. Higher education has gone without necessary and reliable support for more than a decade, and our colleges and universities will undoubtedly diminish in quality if they do not receive consistent and predictable funding going forward,” said Dr. R. Barbara Gitenstein, president of The College of New Jersey in Ewing.
“Our base appropriation would go up about $1.6 million; last year, it was cut more than $4 million, so this is definitely a needed step in the right direction,” said Matthew Golden, director of Communications and Media Relations at TCNJ. “It is certainly welcome, but it doesn’t completely address our financial as an institution but it is an encouraging sign that the governor understands just how much an investment is needed in higher education.”
The state’s research and teaching universities received the majority of the funding, with Rutgers at the top of the list, followed by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Rutgers is slated to receive $321.7 million, an increase of $12.3 million over 2007; UMDNJ would get $231.2 million, a $10.5 million increase, and NJIT would get $48.5 million, an increase of $1.3 million.
Statewide, community colleges including Mercer County Community College would receive $163.4 million: an increase of $7.6 million.
The Governor has recommended that the base operating budgets of eight of the nine remaining state colleges and universities, including The College of New Jersey, would increase by $11.6 million to $288.3 million, with increases ranging from 4.1 to 4.9 percent. Thomas Edison College, based in Trenton, would suffer a $314,000 reduction, from $6.2 million to $5.9 million.
The College of New Jersey would receive $36.6 million, a $1.6 million increase.
“Last year, there was a major cut, about 8 percent,” said Paul Shelly, director of communications and marketing for the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities. “This budget restores some of that cut, about half; it gets us headed back in the right direction, and we are appreciative the governor was able to do that.”
However, the direct aid proposed by Corzine can’t be spent on wage increases or worker benefits, and that creates a problem.
What that usually means is another tuition increase.
Mercer County Community College said there will be a modest $3 per credit increase this year.
“We are pleased that Gov. Corzine recognized the important role of community colleges with proposed increases in his budget,” said Dr. Patricia Donohue, president of Mercer County Community College. “The increase in the operating budget allows MCCC to present a balanced budget for fiscal year 2008 while limiting the tuition increase for students to $3 per credit hour that’s just $36 to $45 per semester for a full-time student.
“A key component for community colleges is providing affordable, accessible higher education, so we are pleased to contain costs for our students with this modest increase.
“While it is true,” she continued, “that community colleges requested more, and we have plans and vision to increase the opportunities at MCCC that require additional funding, we are pleased with the governor’s proposal.
“The capital funds in the governor’s plan allow us to be responsible stewards of this county treasure,” she added, “and prepare to serve our students well into the future.”
One of the biggest gripes is Corzine’s proposed elimination of the Outstanding Scholar Recruitment Program.
The savings will be minimal – fully funded, the program cost $13 million – but the damage caused will be significant, as elimination of the program sends a negative message to New Jersey’s brightest students, according to Gitenstein.
“We are pleased the proposal seems to include increases to our base appropriation and funding of some salary increase for unit employees,” she said. “Unfortunately, the governor’s proposal continues to phase out the Outstanding Scholar Recruitment Program.”
Established in 1997, the OSRP has succeeded in keeping an increasing number of New Jersey’s academically talented high school students in state for their college education.
Elimination of the program could prove disastrous, according to Gitenstein.
“The concern about how many students we are losing is exacerbated by the concern about which students we are losing,” she said. “Merit aid has helped us keep many of our academic stars in the state, where they continue to reside and work after graduation. These students fill vital roles that benefit our economy, health care system, educational system, and quality of life.
“Eighty percent of OSRP graduates from TCNJ are employed in New Jersey; 94 percent reside in the state,” she continued. “Almost all of them cite this scholarship program as a primary reason for choosing to go to school in state.
“While I am thankful that Governor Corzine recognizes the absolute need for increased support of higher education and am appreciative that he has proposed, despite the state’s significant financial constraints, additional higher education funding for fiscal 2008, I remain hopeful that New Jersey can find the means to reinvigorate its commitment to merit aid for highachieving students,” she added.
Shelly said the merit program also helps to stem the outward migration of New Jersey’s brightest students.
“We have far and away the largest number of out migrating students in the country, there’s not a state that’s even close,” explaining the net loss has been more than 200,000 students over the last decade.
“The old New Jersey model has been ‘We’ll pay higher salaries and they’ll come back,’ but with our high taxes, who knows?”
Copyright Mercer County Chamber of Commerce May 01, 2007
(c) 2007 Mercer Business. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.