By Andra Bryan Stefanoni
news@joplinglobe.com
PITTSBURG, Kan. — Leaders from business, industry, education and government gathered Tuesday night at Pittsburg State University to hear a presentation by the Kansas Board of Regents on the economic impact that higher education institutions have and the budget issues those institutions face.
The event was one of 12 that the regents are putting on across Kansas.
Gary Sherrer, vice chairman of the regents and a former lieutenant governor, told the group that the purpose of the event was to reaffirm to the business community that “we really believe we’re in this together.”
“FY ’10 is at FY ’06 levels,” Sherrer said, referring to fiscal years. In 2006, the state’s higher education budget was $747 million. For 2009, the Legislature budgeted $853 million, which was cut to $817 million with the onset of the recession.
The appropriation for fiscal 2010 was $790 million, which has been cut to $753 million. Federal legislation states that in order to receive federal stimulus money, states must maintain their fiscal 2006 funding levels.
“We don’t have much room in terms of making more cuts,” Sherrer said.
Investing in the higher education budget is key to the state’s success, he said. He said research under way at several universities, including PSU, has the potential to generate billions of dollars each year in Kansas through related industries.
Reginald Robinson, president of the Board of Regents, discussed ways to measure the budget challenge that Kansas higher education faces.
The first measure, which he said he considers the best, is to compare the national average level of state and local support for public higher education, which is $6,773 per student, with the Kansas level, which is $5,948 per student.
Another measure is the percentage of a university’s budget that is generated from state sources, which in 1988 was 47 percent, compared with 27 percent in 2008. In 1988, the percentage of a university’s budget generated from student tuition was 16 percent, compared with 26 percent in 2008.
Mark Werner, president of Citizens Bank in Pittsburg, questioned the sensibility of placing “such a tremendous burden” on students by raising tuition. He said that forces them to borrow more money; limits the future available income that they might spend on a home, a car and other goods; and might play a role in whether they can stay in Pittsburg or must seek a higher-paying job market.
Robinson cited worries about the possible outcomes if the current trends continue, including whether businesses would be prepared to operate with a lack of qualified workers, and whether Kansans would be prepared to cope with work force shortages in specialized fields.
“At some point, you will have to start making some decisions on quantity or quality, or both,” Sherrer said.
By the numbers
The regents govern 32 institutions of higher learning: seven public universities, 19 community colleges and six technical colleges. Those institutions employ 28,808 people and educate 173,531 students each year. The institutions have faced significant state funding shortfalls for fiscal years 2009 and 2010.
