Cease the
Budget Cuts
By Irene C. Berger
As
alumni, we have all come to appreciate the quality education
we received at West Virginia University. As we entered the job
market in our respective fields and realized our level of preparedness,
we recognized that our time and our parents' money had been well
spent at WVU. Many of us have children and grandchildren who
are currently students or who have also obtained degrees from
our alma mater. If so, we've been able to see that the quality
of the educational experience continues to grow by leaps and
bounds.
At present, that quality, affordable education at WVU and the other public institutions of higher education in West Virginia is in jeopardy as we face yet another year of potential budget cuts.
Enrollment at WVU is at an all-time high. Full-time freshman enrollment this fall was 4,415. This is an increase of 1,409 since 1995. Full-time student enrollment has increased by 3,195 since 1995. The freshman class includes a larger share of Promise Scholarship-eligible students than any other freshman class in the state. In fact, 60 percent of all Promise-eligible students attend WVU. The average score on the ACT/SAT tests for these freshmen exceeds the national average. Additionally, WVU has received national and international recognition for its student programming.
Forty-five percent of all degrees conferred by West Virginia's 17 public institutions of higher education come from WVU, and our alma mater does 85 percent of the research. Of these institutions, WVU has 48 percent of the faculty and 53 percent of the staff. Importantly, for every dollar invested by the state in WVU, at least ten dollars is returned into the West Virginia economy. These statistics clearly evidence the growth at WVU and its importance to the state. Obviously, this growth requires additional expenditures and investment for housing, faculty, courses, programming, facilities, and other services.
Over the last two years, higher education has suffered budget cuts. If cuts are enacted during the upcoming 2004 legislative term, it will be the third consecutive year for such cuts. President Hardesty, with the approval of the Board of Governors and the legislature, has used tuition increases to partially absorb these cuts and still managed to keep tuition under the national average for land grant institutions. Additionally, by the end of this academic year, WVU will have eliminated approximately 600 positions. True, WVU has just successfully completed its Building Greatness campaign and exceeded its original goal of $250 million. However, most of these contributions are earmarked for specific purposes and much of it is yet to be received. Some will come through wills and trusts upon the donor's death.
In the face of repeated budget cuts, there comes a point where growth cannot be absorbed. Either the quality of the education is diluted through forced cutbacks or a quality education becomes unaffordable for the majority of West Virginia students when tuition increases are routinely used to absorb budget cuts. This will mean that the "promise" of the Promise Scholarship is broken. Our best and brightest will, again, be forced out of state to get a good and/or an affordable education. What may seem to some as "just another year of routine budget cuts" can affect generations of West Virginians to come not only in the potential loss of educational opportunity but also in its impact on the state's economy. If we are to ensure and secure quality, affordable higher education in West Virginia, if we want to keep our students now and upon graduation, and if we want to positively impact our state's sluggish economy, it is crucial and it's a "no brainer" that budget cuts must end now.