HIGHER EDUCATION NEEDS MORE FUNDING

Just before December, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown released her recommended budget plan for the 2019-21 state spending cycle. The proposal would effectively reduce funding for community colleges by 4.7 percent, compared to 2017-19 spending.

We think the governor’s reliance on “revenue reform” (translation: roughly $2 billion in new taxes, adding more money to spend) puts Oregon’s community colleges at a disadvantage, and urge legislators to think of how community colleges play a vital role in Oregon’s workforce, communities, and overall future.

If the $23.6 billion budget proposal is approved, Mt. Hood could be forced to increase tuition rates by $18-$23 per credit over the next two years, MHCC President Lisa Skari said at the college’s annual legislative breakfast this month.

In a followup interview, Skari said that when combined, the 17 community colleges in Oregon would effectively have to increase tuition by an average 17 percent, varying due to the financial situation for each.

“Most colleges have had fund balances – or what I (would) call savings accounts – but because of the years of reduced funding, they’ve had to spend down their savings accounts. So many… don’t have sizable reserves” they once did, Skari said.

This large a tuition increase would be a massive hit to students. Oftentimes community college is a student’s only option, due to a variety of circumstances. The cost of higher education is significantly higher than ever. If a student can barely afford to attend MHCC now, think of what another tuition hike will do to already troublesome enrollment trends.

Skari shared that Mt. Hood enrollment this school year has dropped by 7 percent, with a tuition (revenue) shortfall of about $1.5 million, which follows a tuition increase of $7 per credit (a 6.3 percent increase) approved last spring.

“That was a big push for (Board of Education members) and they didn’t like it,” Skari noted. “So looking at their appetite for not liking big increases, if they continue with that, then we will need to make (program) cuts.”

Mt. Hood will also have to cover roughly $1.5 million in additional PERS (employee retirement system) liability, adding to its budget troubles.

WIDER IMPACT

It isn’t just students who would suffer, though.

Fewer people attending higher education would result in a less-educated, less prosperous workforce in Oregon. Of late, MHCC’s highest enrollments have been in CTE (Career and Technical Education) programs, many of which are required to prepare students for specific jobs in the workforce. By not providing resources to fund the institutions that provide job skills to those who need it most, the governor is effectively hurting the future of Oregon’s economy.

Brown made some key points at the start of her written budget proposal, essentially saying Oregon must address an affordability crisis in housing, healthcare, child care,  and education because costs have outpaced many Oregonians’ ability to thrive.

She added, “We must finally fix our underfunded education system.” Her recommendation: Add a $2 billion “education investment package” funded by new corporate and other taxes a Democratic supermajority in Salem this year appears ready to approve.

Wrote Brown, the package would “transform opportunities for our state and her people … This is emblematic of the broad agreement among Oregonians that we must address the long-term structural obstacles to improving our education system.”

Summing things up, she added, “My values of accountability and promoting opportunity for all Oregonians, particularly rural residents, communities of color, and low-income communities, are the lens through which this budget was crafted.”

Maybe Brown’s lens needs to be cleaned. Community colleges serve those very people for which this budget was crafted, if her explanations are to be believed.

We understand there is a Democratic supermajority and that it is likely that legislation can, and will, pass in order to increase revenue for the state. We understand K-12 schools need extra support, especially to deal with Oregon’s low high school graduation rates, compared to the U.S. overall.

But it’s just as important to consider that, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers state expenditure reports, since 2010 higher education funding has been severely cut back in Oregon.

TOUGH DECISIONS

Higher education was taking up 7.1 percent of state funding in 2010. In 2015, the funding level went down to 1.1 percent. That’s a significant decrease. While in 2018 the percent raised to 3.5 percent, with this proposed budget, higher education would receive 3 percent in 2019-21.

With the proposed investment package, new tuition increases for community colleges would be capped at 3.5 percent, Brown noted. But that’s still more burden put on students.

Based on our discussions with Skari, Mt. Hood next year will either need a tuition increase or make program cuts, in any case. She said the Board of Education will need to make this decision by mid-March.

The Legislature has through the end of June to debate and adopt a state budget – meaning community colleges must make tough decisions in the face of financial uncertainty.

We urge state legislators to think of higher educational institutions that serve communities that need them most: Think of community colleges.