A comprehensive study on the finance and access challenges facing higher education in a nation in recession has been released by the Education Policy Center at The University of Alabama. The report, Funding and Access Issues in Public Higher Education: A Community College Perspective, details the results of the survey of members of the National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 made a significant difference this past year. In the context of the steepest decline in state tax revenues in decades, the stimulus package that was passed included significant immediate relief for states, particularly as it relates to Medicaid funding and education aid. The findings show that in the state budget year just concluded (2009-2010), the cuts that were sustained were much less than they would have been thanks to the ARRA funding. Last year, 18 states reported mid-year cuts for K-12 and 21 did not, while about three out of four reported cuts for each sector of public higher education (flagship universities, regional universities, HBCUs, community colleges). “Recession, producing a decline in revenue” was far and away the most significant budget driver in the year just concluded (43 of 47 respondents reported “strongly agree”).

For next year, operating budgets will decline by at least a percentage point; tuition is predicted to rise at double the inflation rate for flagship universities, regional universities, and community colleges; and 30 of 43 states cut or flat-funded their state student aid programs. Illinois reports a 50% predicted cut in their generous state student aid program next year.

Most respondents reported that their state’s public flagship universities had not capped enrollments, but all five of the nation’s largest states did; likewise, most respondents reported that their state’s public regional universities had not capped enrollments but four of the five largest states reported that they had.

The report notes that the new Administration has at last renewed the nation’s commitment to capacity building, a traditional federal role in two critically important areas, student financial aid and facilities. In the area of financial aid, respondents report overwhelmingly that increases in Pell will cover the increases in tuition, and that there’s strong support for making Pell an entitlement. In the area of facilities (a key component of the American Graduation Initiative), by an overwhelming margin believe community college capacity must be expanded in order to meet President Obama’s goal of increasing baccalaureate degree attainment in our country, and that a federal role for facilities construction and renovation is important.

Media Coverage

State Directors of Community Colleges See Bleak Financial Times Ahead (Chronicle of Higher Education)

Posted 09/25/09 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.