The Colorado Higher Education Project
Carnegie Level One Institutions
· Who are we?
· Why are we meeting?
· What are the questions that need to be asked?
· What are our next steps?
Who are we?
On February 20, 2009, a higher education project group began meeting at the South East Business Partnership offices located in Inverness in the Metro Denver Area. The study group was composed of the following leaders:
John Evans, Ph.D. Coordinator/Chair
Ray Wells “Retired” Special District Expert
Steve Bosley CU Regent Chairman
Frank DeFilippo Coordinator/Colorado School of Mines
Jim Geddes Regent/CU
Doug Jones Trustee and Former Board Chair/CSU
John Lay South East Business Partnership
Mark Scheffel Colorado State Senator
Rich Schweigert CFO/CSU System
On August 27, 2009, the project reorganized itself with Dick Monfort, the University of Northern Colorado Trustee Chair becoming the project chair. The new project group became:
Dick Monfort: Project Chair and Chair, Board of Trustee, University of Northern Colorado;
Steve Bosley: Chair, Board of Regents, University of Colorado;
Dr. Jim Geddes: Board of Regents, University of Colorado;
Trygve Myhren: Chair, Board of Trustees, University of Denver;
John Low: Vice-chair, Board of Trustees, University of Denver;
Dr. Michael Nyikos: Chair, Board of Trustees, Colorado School of Mines;
Doug Jones: Former Chair and Current Trustee, Colorado State University.
Dr. John Evans: Coordinator/Higher Education Consultant;
Senator Mark Scheffel Legislative Consultant; and
Ray Wells “Retired” Special District Expert.
Why are we meeting?
Fund Higher Education
In Colorado, there are 27 public institutions of higher education enrolling 213,655 students. There are five Carnegie Level One Institutions. They are the University of Colorado, the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University, the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Denver. With the exception of the University of Denver, a private institution, in 2008, tuition and fees for full-time, resident state undergraduates ranged from $2,579.00 dollars for community colleges to $10,050.00 dollars for the Colorado School of Mines.
In an article published by the Rocky Mountain News on January 8, 2009, it was reported that Colorado’s higher education students could be “clobbered with stiff tuition hikes.”[1] Former CU President Hank Brown believed that the recession would bring legislative appropriation cuts of up to 50%. He went on to point out that Colorado colleges and universities are close to the bottom among the fifty states in public funding of higher education.
Public Confidence
The Study Group considered the results from two studies. The first is ”A National Status Report on the Affordability of American Higher Education.[2] It confirmed that the higher cost of a college education is limiting the opportunity. The second is a public opinion survey published by Public Agenda, “Public’s View on College Costs Today.”[3] Several points of the survey had an impact on the Study Group. First, only 55% of Americans thought that college’s education is necessary for a person to be successful in today’s world. Second, 63% of Americans thought that compared to other things, college prices are going up at a faster rate. To the question that we should NOT let prices of college education keep qualified students out of college, 74% agree.
But the answers that impacted the Study Group were that 52% of Americans felt the state public college and university system needed to be overhauled; and, 53% of Americans felt that less state spending on higher education had no impact on quality of education;
The study was a red flag to the project Group. What the American public appeared to be saying is they do not believe that budget cuts impact the quality of education. The public supports access to higher education but not necessarily the public cost. The public expects higher education to demonstrate that it can cut costs and that higher education needs more accountability. The conclusion Public Agenda arrived at was: “…higher education leadership might well ask is whether public anxiety and skepticism will trigger greater support of more aggressive regulation. A second question might be whether higher education would be well-advised to address public concerns before government becomes even more involved in shaping its future.”[4]
What are the questions that need to be asked?
In August 2009, the Project Group asked Dr. Evans to visit key business, education and community leaders. The following are the questions they posed for the project members:
· What is the evidence that less state money impacts the quality in higher education?
· What measures are institutions taking to cut costs?
· How are higher education institutions communicating to the taxpayers they serve?
· What is the evidence at each institution that tuition increases are justified?
· What justifications are there for budget increases?
· What evidence is there that higher education institutions prioritize their primary mission to educate?
· What are higher education institutions doing to help Colorado high school students attend post secondary schools?
· What evidence exists that if higher education institutions receive more funding they will use the funds to educate?
What are our next steps?
Some suggested topics for our next meetings might be as follows:
· “Using an Authority or Special District to Reduce Facility and Classified Cost”
· “Vouchering High Education”
· “ Reorganizing Colorado’s State Institutions: Contracting, Administration to five percent, and Consolidation”
· “Solutions without more taxes”
The project group continues to meet monthly.
For more information contact:
Dr. John Evans
[1] See Rocky Mountain News, January 9, 2008, Berny Morson, “College funding teeters on brink.”
[2] “A National Status Report on the Affordability of American Higher Education,” A Report by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, March 2009.
[3] Public Agenda is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. The Report was published on March 10, 2009.
[4] Public Agenda, March 10, 2009, page 2.