Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 23, 1994 TAG: 9402240022
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In 1981-82, according to the Southern Regional Education Board, public higher-education in Virginia was financed 73 percent by the state, 27 percent by student tuition. Virginia paid slightly less than the average (77 percent) for the 15-state SREB region, and slightly more than the U.S. average (72 percent).
By 1991-92, according to SREB figures, the state was paying only 59 percent in Virginia - a steeper decline than for either the regional or national averages (each 69 percent).
In '82-'83, even before the general-fund cutbacks of recent years, median undergraduate tuition and fees at Virginia's major public universities were already highest in the region, and were about 1.5 times the regional average for such institutions. Ten years later, not only were tuition and fees at such Virginia schools still highest in the region - but they also had grown to 2.1 times the regional average.
During the '90s, higher-education appropriations have been sinking in many states. Between '89-'90 and '93-'94, the national total of state tax dollars for higher education dropped by 10 percent. In the SREB states, the decline was about 5 percent. Again, however, the drop was much steeper in Virginia - almost 25 percent.
Even that probably understates the contrast. At a time when some states have experienced declines in college enrollment, Virginia has been among the leaders - both regionally and nationally - in college-enrollment growth. To budget-hassled lawmakers and a tax-harried public, this often is viewed as another "need" to be met, another "problem" to be solved.
In some respects, of course, it is. But if Virginia's colleges and universities listen to its public, and if the public avoids anti-intellectual hysteria and makes reasonable claims on its colleges and universities, it can be an opportunity, too.
by CNB