McDonnell to Call for $50M Investment In Higher Ed

By Amber Lester Kennedy Saturday, December 04, 2010

Gov. Bob McDonnell

McDonnell announced his intent Friday morning at the third meeting of his Commission on Higher Education Reform, Innovation and Investment at Virginia Commonwealth University. The new investment in higher education will be included in his amendments to the current budget, expected to be released on Dec. 17.

The commission, formed in March, was charged with increasing the number of Virginians with college degrees. McDonnell specifically hopes to graduate 100,000 more degrees in the next 15 years, which has been adopted as a state policy priority by the commission. The $50 million would include a downpayment to achieving that goal, according to a press release.

While McDonnell made his announcement in Richmond, the College of William and Mary’s Board of Visitors met for its financial meeting in Blow Hall. The college’s Vice President for Finance Sam Jones shared that all state agencies have been asked to produce budget scenarios in the event they’re asked to cut 2 percent, 4 percent or 6 percent from their budgets.

In his presentation, Jones said the economic outlook for the state is uncertain. The General Assembly’s Senate Finance Committee estimates the state will have a budget shortfall of $150 million. The governor has requested that every state agency create budget reduction plans; statewide, this would call for either a 2 percent cut of $312.5 million, a 4 percent cut of $624.9 million or a 6 percent cut of $937.5 million. At William and Mary, the cuts in state funding would equal $765,145 for a 2 percent cut; $1.5 million for a 4 percent cut; and $2.3 million for a 6 percent cut.

In order to sustain the college, President Taylor Reveley has repeatedly emphasized the need for flexibility to fundraise effectively and enroll more out-of-state students, whose tuition provides much-needed revenue. The commission’s goals include the admission of more in-state students, however.

To graduate 100,000 more degrees by 2015, the commission recommends enrolling more Virginians at the state’s public and private colleges by stabilizing base funding, rewarding colleges for enrollment growth and establishing enrollment targets for Virginia students at each institution. The commission also recommends encouraging Virginians who have earned partial college credit to complete their degrees, and establish policies and incentives to promote improved graduation rates in Virginia colleges.

The commission has focused on promoting the study of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), and recommended establishing a public-private collaborative effort that will increase the number of Virginians obtaining degrees in those fields of study. They would also like to develop metrics that will allow parents and students to understand the economic impact and earning potential of particular degree programs at certain institutions.

The commission wants to catalog research and development work at the state’s colleges, particularly any related to federally funded research that aligns with Virginia’s economic development initiatives. The research and development initiative would also establish a fund to boost the study and teaching of emerging technologies. To promote private investment in research and development, the commission recommends the state create a state income tax credit.

The commission also drafted a list of possible reforms to higher education in Virginia. The commission would like each public higher education institution to develop a plan for the best way to utilize its assets year-round. The state also wants colleges to use more technology-based instruction by sharing instructional resources across the higher education system, redesigning courses to incorporate new technologies, enhancing the availability, quality and affordability of online courses and using more electronic and online source materials.

The traditional four-year undergraduate model should also be tweaked, according to the commission’s recommendations. The commission wants to increase the availability of dual-enrollment and Advanced Placement courses to high school students, which would enable them to complete many general education requirements prior to starting college. The commission also suggested promoting the transfer from community colleges to four-year institutions, establishing incentives for timely completion of bachelor’s degrees and developing a college readiness plan that phases out remedial programs at the college level.

To make college more affordable, the commission would like to provide stable and predictable base funding for each college that would use peer-based methodology in hopes of reducing the influence of lobbying. The commission also recommends rewarding enrollment growth of in-state students, and hopes to reduce colleges’ reliance on tuition and fees as state support increases over time. The state would also like to set money aside for higher education in a “rainy day fund” to avoid tuition increases in bad economic periods.

The commission wants to make a promise to every Virginia student that state funding will follow him or her to the state college (public or private) of his or her choice. In addition, the state would like to provide more need-based funding to low-and-middle-income students.

An interim report of the Commission’s recommendations will be presented to the governor for review in the coming weeks. His budget amendments for the upcoming fiscal year will be released Dec. 17.