[Vision2020] What a Time To Chop Away At Higher Education

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today's (September 26, 2009) Spokesman Review at:

http://media.spokesman.com/documents/2009/09/trillhaase.pdf

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What a time to chop away at higher ed
By Marty Trillhaase

If you operated an airline and more people were making reservations, would
you slash routes and boost fares?

If you ran a dental office and more people needed cavities filled, would
you cut your hours and send them home?

Of course not.

So why in the world does Idaho choose to cut back on higher education in
the middle of a recession?

People lose jobs in recessions. Eager to land on their feet, many show
enough initiative and faith in the future to put themselves back in a
classroom, acquiring the skills to become competitive in the new job
market.

Lewis-Clark State College's heat count surged to 4,200, cresting the
4,000 mark for the first time.

At the University of Idaho, enrollments rose slightly to 11,957.

After shedding students to the newly created College of Western Idaho,
Boise State University's enrollment still was up 2.3 percent for a total
of 18,936,

Even Idaho State University had more students, up 6.6 percent to 13,493.

Those students will have less to work with.

Throw in the latest round of budget cuts Gov. C. L. (Butch) Otter
announced Friday, and the UI has sliced $22.6 million in one year. The
latest loss comes to nearly $5 million.

During the same period, L-C has lost nearly $3 million. Friday's hit came
to $808,000.

Why?

The answer, say state budget writers, is blatantly obvious. Tax revenues
continue to fall. They're down $151 million so far this year and may slide
further. Idaho's constitution demands a balanced budget. Nobody's going to
support raising taxes. Something's got to give. Colleges and universities
have to accept their share.

Asked to anticipate the cuts, the schools listed the usual suspects. Staff
furloughs. Less equipment purchases. Leaving unfilled positions vacant.
Deferred maintenance.

Just when people are returning to school, programs and resources start
disappearing. Libraries will have fewer offerings. Accreditation problems
may surface.

Many students will find the process of becoming retrained takes longer.
And they get to pay more.

To cope with declining taxpayer support, state schools have boosted
tuition by 25 percent in the past five years. Fees now cost nearly $5,000
annually at the UI. The latest round of cuts guarantees that trend will
continue, and possibly accelerate.

Idaho already has one of the least college-educated work forces in the
United States.

It has difficulty getting many of its high school graduates to enter
college, and an equally tough time keeping students in school once they
arrive.

Student debts keep piling up.

Slicing away at higher education when people need it most just to balance
a faltering state budget may make fiscal sense. To lawmakers unwilling to
raise taxes, it's smart politically.

But by just about any other measurement of a successful society, it simply
doesn't add up.

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Seeya at Farmers' Market, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown