THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 15, 1995 TAG: 9501160183
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER AND JON GLASS, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Long : 137 lines
Virginia's two state-supported historically black universities, Norfolk State and Virginia State, would lose bigger chunks of their funding under Gov. George F. Allen's budget than any other college in the state except one.
The pattern is nothing new in Virginia. If Allen's cuts go through, Norfolk State will be down 27 percent, and VSU 20 percent, in state aid since 1989, faring worse than any other Virginia colleges.
The state gives Norfolk State less money per student than it gives any other four-year school. NSU, which offers a doctoral program in social work as well as master's degrees in some fields, receives even less aid per student than schools with no graduate programs.
Allen's plan would cut funding for NSU and VSU in 1995-96 by more than 9 percent each, according to figures from the State Council of Higher Education. Only Radford University faces a bigger loss, at 14 percent. The average cut for all 15 state-supported four-year schools would be 2.7 percent.
The historically black schools are losing 6 percent each as punishment for failing to submit adequate restructuring plans by the state's deadline. Four other schools, including Radford and Christopher Newport, also face the 6 percent restructuring penalties.
State Education Secretary Beverly Sgro defended the cuts to the black colleges.
``My response is that there was certainly no effort to discriminate against them at all,'' she said. ``There were also four other institutions that were penalized. I think the (black) schools are in the company of other good institutions. It doesn't speak to the quality of the schools; it speaks to the quality of their plans.
``There doesn't need to be special sensitivity. All the schools should be treated the same.''
But some local legislators reacted angrily to the proposal.
``Any cut to these institutions, given the historical underfunding they have experienced, is reflective of an indifference that is heretofore unparalleled,'' said Del. William P. Robinson Jr., D-Norfolk, who has vowed to fight to get the money back.
Another legislator, Del. Jerrauld C. Jones, D-Norfolk, said: ``I do think there is a unique mission they fulfill, and we ought not to back away from that mission. A reduction in funding can have a profound impact upon students at these schools who, in many cases, have special needs.''
Virginia State's president, Eddie N. Moore Jr., said, ``To me, there seems to be a history of underfunding to the universities. It just doesn't make sense why they would be so hard hit.''
Though VSU would fare worse next year, Norfolk State has suffered more the last few years. It now gets $2,493 per student, compared with the $3,965 average for all four-year schools. Community colleges get $2,359, or just $134 less than NSU, according to state council figures.
Norfolk State's president, Harrison B. Wilson, declined comment.
J. Michael Mullen, deputy director of the State Council of Higher Education, said a combination of factors has led to money problems at the black colleges:
In the last decade, the state has switched from paying about half the cost of the educations of out-of-state students, to requiring those students to cover the whole amount, through increased tuition. Since NSU and VSU have among the largest percentages of non-Virginians enrolled, they have lost the most.
Money increases in the last few years have been targeted, in part, to colleges launching innovative programs. Mullen wouldn't say that VSU and NSU aren't doing that, but the programs that have been funded tend to be at larger schools, such as Old Dominion University's Teletechnet, which beams courses statewide.
When the budget cuts began in 1990, colleges were allowed big tuition increases to help make up the difference. NSU, though, chose to keep tuition low because Wilson said he didn't want to burden low-income students. Mullen said he understands that, but NSU also could have chosen higher tuition increases and won more financial aid for the neediest students.
Through much of this century, educators say, black colleges have received less aid than white schools have, making it harder for them to pay for state-of-the-art technology and to attract top-notch professors. But states have made strides in equalizing funding, according to a 1992 U.S. Department of Education study.
The report said that public black colleges spent about 97 percent as much per student as did all public universities. ``The resources available at the public . . . (black colleges) appear similar to those available at other public institutions,'' it said.
Next fall, NSU stands to lose 9.4 percent of its state aid, dropping from the previously approved $20,535,000 to $18,602,000. The cuts would include $1.2 million as a restructuring penalty and $700,000 in aid to graduate programs in social work and physics.
Virginia State would lose 9.9 percent, going from $13,946,000 to $12,572,000. Its restructuring penalty would be $850,000. In addition, VSU would lose about $430,000 for its striped-bass research program and $90,000 for faculty raises.
Radford is suffering the heaviest loss, at 14.4 percent, or $3.8 million, because Allen is slicing $2 million from its College of Global Studies, which the university since has scrapped.
Education officials complained that the NSU and VSU restructuring plans - like those of the other four that were rejected - had too few details on goals and cost savings. A large section of NSU's initial draft, for instance, was devoted to Wilson's plans for an urban institute.
But supporters of the six schools say their plans were no worse than some of the others that sailed through. They suspect that Allen wanted to send a get-tough message to colleges and chose those with the least political clout to suffer.
The revised plans of all six have been approved within the last month by the state council, which has urged Allen to rescind the restructuring cuts. Robinson said he was confident legislators could win back all the endangered money for NSU and VSU.
``I think the chances are excellent,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
STATE AID TO COLLEGES
Allen's proposed cuts for '95-'96 Percent change from '89 to
'96*
Christopher Newport -6.8% 6.1%
Clinch Valley -0.7% 8.6%
George Mason -1.0% -10.7%
James Madison -0.8% -6.3%
Longwood -6.6% -12.9%
Mary Washington -6.8% -18.3%
Norfolk State -9.4% -27.3%
Old Dominion -0.8% -10.8%
Radford -14.4% -15.6%
University of Virginia -1.3% -17.6%
Virginia Commonwealth -0.9% -10.2%
VMI -0.7% -15.5%
Virginia State -9.9% -19.9%
Virginia Tech -2.2% -16.5%
William and Mary -1.0% -19.2%
TOTAL -2.7% -14.1%
Percentages calculated from numbers supplied by State Council of
Higher Education.
*Based on Gov. George F. Allen's 1995-96 proposal.
KEYWORDS: COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITIES VIRGINIA VIRGINIA STATE
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