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11/18/2004 2:15 AMBy Margaret Sughrue Carlson, Ph.D. '83
In his "State of the State" address earlier this year, Governor Tim Pawlenty (B.A. ’83, J.D. ’86) asked the Citizens League—an independent, nonpartisan group that studies public policy issues—to take a good, hard look at Minnesota’s higher education system. For six months, a 33-member task force spent hundreds of hours studying this complex issue. It concluded that Minnesota’s higher education system cannot continue to sustain what it has achieved and that the state’s economic success and quality of life are at risk.
The facts and trends that led the task force to these conclusions are disturbing. The number of students coming through the K–12 pipeline will begin shrinking just as baby boomers are retiring. Meanwhile, Minnesota’s most rapidly growing minority populations have the lowest rates of high school graduation and higher education participation—and already more than 30 percent of Minnesota high school graduates who go to college must take remedial courses. Moreover, Minnesota ranks in the bottom half of states in science and engineering degrees as a percentage of total degrees granted.
Minnesota needs to do a better job preparing its children for the high-tech, global economy that awaits them. But higher education is facing a long-term trend of eroding state support. Appropriations for the University of Minnesota dropped by $196 million between the 2003 and 2005 bienniums, and the University has had to implement several double-digit tuition increases to make up for the funding shortfall.
The alumni association took special interest in the work of the Citizens League. The task force meetings were open to the public, and I attended several to watch and listen to these devoted and capable citizens grapple with myriad challenging issues. But they struggled especially hard with the funding piece. Task force members were well aware of the governor’s "no new taxes" mantra. They also knew that Minnesota anticipates another $1 billion budget shortfall. And part of their charge from the governor was to recommend ways that higher education could "do more with less."
But excellence and investment in higher education are tightly linked, and University President Bob Bruininks told task force members that stable funding—an annual base amount, adjusted for inflation, plus an investment amount—is essential.
Former Minnesota governor Elmer L. Andersen (B.A. ’31, hon. Ph.D. ’83), who continues to champion higher education more than 40 years after leaving office, also testified. "If you want great education, you have to pay for it," Andersen said. "Taxes are the way people join hands to get good things done. That’s the tradition of Minnesota."
Minnesota is not the only state facing a crisis in higher education; troubling trends are seen nationwide. Even so, earlier this year, Washington Governor Gary Locke unveiled the Washington Education Trust Fund to provide new and stable funding for education from preschool through college. Dubbed "One Penny for Education," the trust fund is derived from a 1 cent per dollar state sales tax increase and will generate an additional $1 billion annually. "All governors are facing the economic downturn," Locke said. "But you’ve got to make sure you’re attending to the basics."
Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen announced his plans to reestablish "the education of our children as our highest calling." His budget included not only spending new funds to support higher education, but moving money from other areas as well.
Noting that his state has been disinvesting in higher education for too long, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski announced late last year his plan to create a new era of economic vitality in Oregon. In addition to objectives to expand access to higher education and achieve excellence in fields sought after by a global economy, Kulongoski called for a "strategy of reinvestment in post-secondary education."
And in May, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a "compact" that promises annual growth in state funding for the University of California. "Governor Schwarzenegger is to be congratulated for his exceptionally strong commitment to higher education," said University of California President Robert Dynes, "particularly given that the state still is experiencing fiscal difficulties."
As the Citizens League task force moved through its deliberations, the alumni association’s advocacy committee reviewed its findings and preliminary reports and provided feedback. It was our hope that the final report would make a strong and clear connection between excellence and investment, and we were pleased to hear several task force members, including Steve Hunter of Minneapolis, recommend increased funding. "Given the current political and financial reality, more money shouldn’t be the primary thrust of our report," Hunter said, "but it needs to be in there . . . or we’re ignoring long-term consequences."
But the report that the Citizens League adopted in October evaded this core issue. The report emphasized that higher education leaders "continue to reform and focus their institutions" and "leverage existing resources and consider improvements to funding strategies."
We applaud Governor Pawlenty for convening the task force and praise the Citizens League for shedding light on the problems facing higher education. Now, the alumni association asks the governor to provide the vision and the voice that are so urgently needed.
We ask Governor Pawlenty to speak up loudly and clearly about the fundamental importance of higher education to the future of Minnesota, as his colleagues in other states have done. We ask the governor to commit to stable funding for the University. Not making a strong commitment to higher education is to accept that the quality of the University and the state will erode.
"It takes years and years for an institution to reach preeminent status," President Bruininks has said many times. "But you can lose it overnight."