EDITORIAL: Hey Rick, can you spot us $10 million?
Central Michigan University recognizes the danger of declining state support when lobbying for increased funding, but students are really the ones who suffer the burden of their school's budgetary needs.
University administrators have repeatedly said if CMU received the same amount of appropriations as in 2001, it would reduce tuition by $100 per credit hour. The state must invest in education if it wants to be successful.
When CMU sets its budget each year, it determines a tuition increase that can generate enough revenue to cover its costs. After Gov. Rick Snyder's 15 percent cut to higher education in 2011, tuition dollars became responsible for covering more of CMU’s expenses than ever before.
When state support decreased, students were left to pick up the slack.
This is unacceptable.
Public universities like CMU serve a vital role in providing a quality education at a low cost to middle-class and rural families in Michigan.
State government should pay most of the cost of operating public universities. That is why they also oversee these institutions through appointed boards and trustees.
Private colleges don't receive funds from state legislatures so they rely heavily on tuition and private contributions.
University President George Ross and Vice President of Finances and Administrative Services Barrie Wilkes both described our funding model as being closer to a private college.
CMU's budget reflects this.
Tuition comprises 57.7 percent of the operating budget this year while state appropriations funded only 16 percent. Ross even created a new administrative position specifically to generate private contributions to supplement revenue.
CMU's spending has almost doubled in 15 years, from $261.4 million in the 2001-02 academic year to $483.2 million in 2015-16. The university needs to control costs to stay affordable, prioritizing only the most necessary expenditures above those that can wait.
Each time tuition is raised, more Michigan residents are priced out of an education.
Construction on the Biosciences Building is estimated to cost $95 million, and CMU has dedicated $49.2 million in subsidies to the College of Medicine since the 2010-11 fiscal year. This expansion is being paid for primarily by all CMU students, with only some actually experiencing the benefits.
While students wait for the university and legislators to meet in the middle, they are bearing the load of these issues.
Decades ago, a college education set you apart from other candidates, but now a degree is required to be considered for most jobs. If they can't get that education here, students will leave.
Legislators often talk of the importance higher education and then cut budgets, but these are often the same people who benefitted from high state appropriations when they went to school.
Students are doing all they can to finance college — applying for scholarships, working extra hours, taking out endless loans — because they recognize the importance of it.
It would be nice if their university and their state could pick up the check once in a while.
