18.1% WOW Colorado is first in the nation in Higher Ed using federal stimulus money to support our colleges. Congrats Colorado you worked hard to reach this high point. This mean that almost 1 in 5 dollars spent this year on higher ed, come from the fed. The average for states is 3% stimulus money going to Higher ed in most states. The Chronicle for higher Ed had this fact along with a few other big numbers to look at. The runner up in using stimulus dollars is Mass at 11.2%. Why are we so special, maybe the thin air is affecting our thinking.
The Denver post reported that The Director of the Department of Higher Education David Skaggs will need a year to complete a study on how to meet the financial need. That means that a ballet measure will be ready for 2011. Well this is not Hollywood, and we can't wait till 2011 to revise Tabor( The tax payers bill of rights). In the movies all the impossible events lead to a happy ending. This is real life, the out come may not be so good.
The stimulus money has saved around 2675 higher ed. jobs according t the Denver Business Journal. Not bad, but in 2012, do those jobs may go away. I am writing this to the believers in higher ed., How are we going to educate the public to fill in the gap when the money goes away.
This writer is running out of ideas.
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Mark,
ReplyDeleteThis seems to be the million dollar question a lot of institutions are asking themselves. As educators, we have already faced the brutal budget and brace ourselves while finding hope in the unknown. I believe we are hoping for a miracle, but in case this does not happen, we are polishing off off our resume and honing in on our interview skills. It is not my intention to appear negative or be another case of "debbie downer," I am a realitist and having options in an economy that has yet to show signs of growth is a proactive approach in surviving this budget crisis.
The point is well taken, the state of Colorado is not supporting higher education to the extent that it should and if not for the federal dollars, higher education would have been hurt more by cuts due to the current economy. There has been a lot of discussion on developing consistent revenue streams to support higher education in the future. This discussion needs to continue and a solution found that will serve the students attending school in Colorado.
ReplyDeleteAlong with Alethea, I don't want to appear as a "debbie downer" but if Colorado doesn't get their act together soon, our state is going to end up like my home state of California when it comes to Higher Education. Obviously, there are many more schools in California than in Colorado, but when you hear talks of potential schools being shut down because of the state's budget it is a scary place to be in.
ReplyDeleteBeing from California, many of my friends work at institutions in the state and most have been forced to take furlough days, have been told their jobs might not be there in a year and some have even been let go as their was no longer funding for their job.
I don't want Colorado to end up where California currently is, in a year or two. If we don't get our shit together, this is what is going to happen. I know that President Norton has been pretty open about what is going on with our budget here at UNC, but more needs to happen in regards to the state budget and higher education. If the state doesn't start supporting institutions more, universities are going to have to look to other ways of funding to keep their school afloat.