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Published Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011 | 6:28 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011 | 6:28 p.m.
Brian Sandoval
Gov. Brian Sandoval has suggested that students pay “significantly higher fees” to attend Nevada colleges and universities, higher education officials said Wednesday.
Chancellor Dan Klaich and Board of Regents Chairman James Dean Leavitt met with the governor and his senior staff in Carson City. They were unable to share many details of the conversation, including how large a budget cut Sandoval will recommend.
“The reality we’re facing as a state and a system of higher education is bleak,” Leavitt said. “The meeting was cordial. But we were not shy. We told him about the sustained, difficult, deep cuts we’ve suffered over the past two sessions. We told him further cuts would cause irreparable damage to the system.”
Leavitt said students “should expect significantly higher fees.” He wouldn’t be more specific, saying “significant is scary enough.”
Sandoval ran on a platform of balancing the state’s budget by not raising taxes or fees. He argued that families and businesses cannot afford to pay more in this economy.
Heidi Gansert, Sandoval’s chief of staff, said Nevada institutions have low tuition rates compared to similar colleges and universities.
“I think it’s important we have access to higher education, which we do, but look at how Nevada compares to other universities. Our tuition is rather low,” she said.
Sandoval also believes that any increase in tuition should be coupled with scholarship programs or increased access for students to get federal aid, she said.
Klaich said the governor’s administration has not come to a final decision about how big a cut higher education will take but said Sandoval suggested increasing fees “without affecting access to institutions.”
Sandoval will release his budget on Jan. 24. The Legislature has 120 days to pass the budget, though any tuition increase is likely to have to be passed by the Board of Regents, which is independently elected.
Sandoval’s predecessor, Gov. Jim Gibbons, proposed a 37 percent cut to higher education in 2009, which was rejected by lawmakers. Gibbons’ staff also pointed out that the higher education system could offset those cuts by increasing tuition and fees. The board of regents did increase fees in 2009.
Average in-state tuition is about $5,600 per year for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and University of Nevada, Reno, excluding books, room and board, lab fees and other costs, according to a higher education spokesman. Average tuition for the College of Southern Nevada is $2,243.
So students and their parents get to get buried in debt to pay more for college. I guess we can just bite the bullet.
A 37% increase in tuition this semester wasn't enough Governor?
As our "New Governor" takes care of his friends by reducing their tax burden for next year, the future educated workers and leaders of this state get screwed.
We have one of the lowest tax burdens in the United States. Why isn't the Governor looking at raising taxes the same way he is going to raise tuition??
Maybe his spokeswoman has an answer for that question?
I doubt it, remember "No new taxes"
WOW! Our new governor really just doesn't get it. For Nevada, and it's citizens, to be more competitive in the new global economy we need more access to education and not less. Raising tuition and fees makes college less accessible. It also creates a debt burden on our children who have to take out excessive student loans to finance their education. I agree with the governor that we need to diversify our business community, I agree with him that there needs to be shared sacrifice, I agree with him that Nevada needs to reduce the size of government. However, if we are all going to have to sacrifice then be bold and raise taxes. The boomer generation has already spent the young generations' futures into oblivion. Do we really need to take money out of their classrooms or make college less accessible? If we are going to burden our young people with a crippling national debt then shouldn't we at least provide them access to education so that they may have a fighting chance of getting a job to be able to pay down that debt. Governor I say this as a tax payer, who like any other tax payer doesn't like to have his taxes raised, we do not need to balance the budget at the expense of our young people's future. I know that some schools in this great state are inefficient and not making adequate progress, but the solution is not to cut funding, it is more fundamental than that. Nevada has to become a community again. Parents pawn their children off on the public school system, don't feed them, don't properly cloth them, don't care about them, and should really not have ever been allowed to have kids. The parents need to share in the burden. I have personally seen so many children who are more loved by their teachers than by their own parents. Teachers have become babysitters, psychiatrists, surrogate parents, etc. I agree that some teachers are poor and ineffective, but how do expect to draw the best minds into the field of education if they know they won't be supported, they won't make much money, and that their work in general won't be appreciated. Governor you're right, we have to fundamentally change education, but not with vouchers, with personal responsibility. Principals and teachers should be allowed to immediately send children home who are continuous disruptions and only there to cause trouble. It should be the parents duty to teach those children respect and discipline. I have said it before and I'll say it again. Teaching should be 10% classroom management and 90% teaching. In some schools it is the exact opposite. Get real governor, we don't need the status quo Republican alternative, we need creativity and common sense. I seriously wonder if you possess either.
thats too bad,between the mileneum scholarship and in-state tuition rates my son was afforded a business and marketing degree at unlv very reasonably
look at this greasy governor...
first day on the job...
and he screws the kids...
WHERE IS THE INCREASED BURDEN ON MINING???
mining strips the land...
then ships the profits to foreign countries...
mountains of profits...
which benefit foreign children...
not the children of nevada...
WHERE IS THE INCREASED BURDEN ON MINING???
hey lasvegas2011...
did you go to public school???
did your kids go to public school???
This guy really doesn't get it. On the one hand he says that Nevadans can't afford to pay more, then he proposes shifting more of the burden of paying for college to us. I have a daughter enrolled in a state university, and I am also a state employee. Sounds like I'm going to get the shaft from both directions.
Someone should tell him that making higher education less accessible is not the way to develop new industries in NV.
Companies don't like to do business somewhere there isn't a pool of qualified talent to hire. Recruiting employees from out of state is difficult and relocation is expensive.
Here's the problem Gov. Sandy, you're not in charge of a state that has competitive schools. The tuition is cheap for a reason. If you raise the tutition too high students will just go out of state. You can't just say, let's raise tution. You have to look at what you're product is worth.
Proclamations that are contrary to recently passed legislation and now this. Look dude, we need you be much smarter than this. God help us.
Oh come on, increase the budget. There are too many professors and administrators that only make $100k and need their jobs and raises.
Wasn't he the cop in "Hangover"? The one with the taser screaming "In the face!"
Transferring higher education costs to struggling students and their families in this bankrupt state is patently unfair and highly counterproductive to our long term economic recovery and diversification. With the proposed tuition increases, Mr. Sandoval is essentially trying to privatize our already third-rate Nevada System of Higher Education, which includes UNLV, UNR, and the smaller state colleges like CSN. Educational quality is declining at these institutions due to previous budget cuts. NSHE faculty and staff now know is no real future for the NSHE system and for their professional ambitions in Nevada. But nevertheless the governor wants the shrinking middle class to pay more, much more, and for this payment they will receive much less! Why doesn't the governor instead insist Barrick Gold, Wal-Mart, MGM, Bank of America, NV Energy, Target Stores, and Microsoft (yes Microsoft is in Reno!), and a host of other wealthy corporate interests begin to pay their fair share of taxes for the privilege of doing business in Nevada. Because these corporate interests placed him power. Because this is "no new taxes" Nevada. And because Mr. Sandoval has ambition far beyond Carson City.
The alternative to raising tuition is for UNLV, UNR,and CSN to cut costs! In my opinion, the universities would best serve students by meeting in the middle to cut their costs and then raising tuition/fees the rest of the way.
Case Study: The State of Georgia - The State of Georgia, not too very long ago, instituted a state lottery. With the revenue that the state receives from the state lottery, the state government of Georgia instituted the HOPE scholarship. This scholarship is awarded to all students who graduate from a Georgia high school with at least a B average. This scholarship provides free tuition at any Georgia public college in the state and provides $125.00 per semester towards the purchase of books. What this scholarship did was make a college education affordable and more accessible in the state. Subsequently, very smart kids who otherwise would have forgone a college education were now able to attend with minimal debt incurred. The result is that the University of Georgia now boasts freshman SAT scores that rival Ivy League Schools because more entering Freshman have worked harder in high school so they could obtain the HOPE scholarship. Again, Georgia students are working harder and being rewarded for it. Also, the University of Georgia was recently recognized as being the best educational value in terms of the occupational success of students in relationship to those student's total cost of attendance. The scholarship also funded new school construction and safety measures like the installation of video surveillance in all Georgia schools. This has in no means been a silver bullet, because many counties in Georgia are still behind the curve in terms of student achievement. However, it has given increased opportunity to thousands of students. I'm not necessarily saying that a state lottery is the answer here in Nevada, but we need to find a more stable way to fund education so that we can create a competitive labor force. Fact: the current unemployment rate for people with at least a bachelors degree is 4.8%, just a high school diploma 10.5%, and less than a high school diploma 15%. Nevada has the highest unemployment rate of all the states in the country. I wonder how making higher education less accessible to its citizenry is going to improve employment in the Silver State? Governor, we're waiting for your response.
>>Gov. Brian Sandoval has suggested that students pay "significantly higher fees" to attend Nevada colleges and universities, higher education officials said Wednesday.<<
On day one Sandogibbons causes a constitutional crisis with his order regarding reading (see the RJ's article on it by Ed vogel in today's edition). On day two he breaks his pledge to raise taxes or fees by stating that fees need to be raised for all students who want to attend college. This, while companies like IKEA refuse to move here after being courted by the LVCVA because while the taxes on businesses are nice, the education system is too poor.
Where are the Republicans and Tea Baggers now? He broke his word to not raise taxes or fees! And businesses are refusing to move here BECAUSE the education system, which he thinks should be more expensive and exclusive, is in bad condition.
Wow.
"tuition is low" is that a bad thing? I guess you can't go any lower than 50th in education.
Governor B.S.
Ascending to the throne, and kicking his subjects on the way up...NICE!!!
I see we have a true successor to our just deposed Education Governor.
Gov B.S.
Allowing your staff to say things like "tuition is rather low" after several years of budget cuts and tuition hikes, is an embarrassment to all of the citizens who have a memory longer than a few days. This type of statement shows that you and the people around you lack the necessary intellectual capacity to govern this state.
Soon the right leaning people who elected you will discover that you are playing political semantics with "fees" and "taxes". Next, your puppet masters will abandon you, just like the last hollow headed empty suit they controlled.
Here is something to keep you occupied, go get a girlfriend in some foreign country and leave governing to the adults.
I hope that if tuition at UNLV and CSN is to be raised, the Governor will force the University's Presidents to take a sharp knife to carve the fat out of the university's and the college's budgets.
AT UNLV there are far too many tenured professors teaching useless subjects while earning very high pay and benefits. At CSN the degree requirements mandate the taking of incredibly useless classes, merely to obtain an AA. In both cases, by useless I mean subjects which will NOT allow students to attain marketable job skills.
UNLV does not need to be UC Berkeley or UCLA. CSN does not need to be Cal State Northridge.
What UNLV and CSN do need to do is provide the course work necessary to obtain a decent paying job IN NEVADA. Nevada's employers should not have to import people from out of state.
In the 1970's students could choose and pay for courses which had direct application to their job goals, and did not have to waste their money subsidizing the comfortable lifestyles of academics and educators who taught nothing but useless junk. Now days, if you look at the "mandatory" course list at CSN, for example, you see that at least half of what students are required to take during their "2 years" is totally unrelated to the work environment.
I've spent enough time, as a hiring partner in my company, to say with great confidence that a boatload of b.s. humanities courses, at college level, is not going to get anyone a job at my company, or virtually anywhere else in Nevada.
Accounting, not philosophy.
Writing for business, not "studies of womens literature in the 20th Century".
Tuition is extremely cheap on a relative basis compared to other states, however, the quality of education at UNLV is a joke. Most of my upper division business classes included curves and extra credit opportunities.
Class sizes tripled this past semester and a cut will only heighten this alarming statistic. I'm not opposed to paying more seeing as the past 3 years have been cheaper than the one year I went out of state, but it's just alarming to think we must pay more, when services have been drastically reduce.
The budget can be balanced by taxing the MINING INDUSTRY!!!!!
FINALLY! He speaks!
Make higher education less accessible by increasing its cost.
I'll notify the The Daily Beast immediately that we will be retaining the heavyweight belt for
"Dumbest City in the Land"...until further notice!
LOL!!! This just keeps getting better and better.
If I die in 2011, at least my spirit be laughing all the way to the morgue!!!!!
Thanks Brian...I needed that.
Students pay for Wall Street theft. Lets not tax the thieves - they give us jobs!!!
It's easy to see that a Republican Governor is back in office.
Nice job Sandoval. Kenny Guinn is rolling over in his grave.
I'd have to say,
Businesses = Cars
Education = A Driver
Pro-Education = Pro-Business
The U.S will have to increase the size of medical school by many folds.
The ACA, Baby Boom Generation require vastly increased volume, which could help finance college operation, spur much-needed job creation, and create head-on competition in medical industry, turning greed into better services.
Affordable health costs via intense competition will lead parents to focus on better education even more.
We know, HOPE turns ordeal into pleasure.
Let's try this: Instead of raising fees, lower them to, say, $200 per quarter. That way, every kid who wants to go to college, can work his or her way through school. They would graduate without substantial debt. That way businesses would have a pool of young college graduates who could work for low wages (no debt) and the state would have consumers (no debt) who could pay sales and property taxes. New businesses are attracted here, the job market improves, property values stabilize, and we generate more state and local revenue without raising tax rates.
The other option is the new Governor's, we can raise fees, drive people from college, drive businesses away, make the job market worse, drive property values down further, and generate less state and local revenue, having to further cut services or raising taxes, which drives more business activity away, and spiral down....
Our choice.
greasy bri bri and his big toothed smile...
this clown hates nevada children...
despises them...
they are just a burden to him...
funny thing though...
he loves foreign children...
loves them...
he wants to make sure their lives are as easy as possible...
what other explanation could there be for his failure to raise taxes on mining...
he wants to make sure that mining companies make every single penny in profit as possible..
profits which are shipped to foreigners...
profits which benefit foreign children...
after they strip the land...
greasy bri bri hates your kids...
but this maggot loves foreign kids...
RAISE FRICKIN TAXES ON MINING!!!
Hey let Gov BS off the hook for awhile. The Porn Convention is in town! Let's go fellas!
Gamble, Drink, Screw, Repeat.
I think it would be reasonable to expect the gaming companies to pay at least as much in taxes as taxpayers pay in sales tax.
Sales tax in Nevada ranges from 6.85% to 8.10%.
The highest taxes on gross revenues for a nonrestrcited gaming license are 6.75%.
Which shows that gambling is still a racket.
Naturally, it is totally reasonable to expect Governor BS to raise slot machine fees, too. Isn't it?
=========
Monthly Percentage Fee (Nonrestricted Gaming License)
(NRS 463.370) based on gross gaming revenue - payable on or before the 24th day of each month covering the preceding calendar month at the following rates.
3.5% of the first $50,000 during the month, plus
4.5% of the next $84,000 plus
6.75% of revenue exceeding $134,000.
Slot Machines:
Annual Tax (Nonrestricted Gaming License)
(NRS 463.385) $250.00 per machine, payable in advance; computed on a prorated basis.
Slot Machines:
Quarterly License Fee (Nonrestricted Gaming License)
(NRS 463.375) $20.00 per machine, payable in advance; no proration.
=====
So gaming companies with nonrestricted licenses pay a whole $330 a year in taxes/fees for a slot machine and 6.75% of revenue.
Would the average taxpayer like to get a piece of a deal like that, or what?
What tax bracket are you in?
Close the law school.
is there any shortage of "heavy hitters" in Nevada?
Close the dental school.
is there any shortage of dentists in Nevada?
closing those 2 programs will save the taxpayer 20 million dollars a year.
It would not be that hard to save some money in the budget at UNLV. We have paid for a few of our children to go there over the years.
First off would be to get rid of the nonsense courses that are not needed for the degree but required so inflate the cost of education.
Second would be to require professors to show up and teach their classes more often. To often we would receive a call from one of our kids saying there is a note on the door stating the professor would not be there today, just a homework assignment would be given. Sometimes an "aid" would be there to take the place of the professor.
This happened way to often. Why should we be paying for classes that never happen?
Our new governor is going to shift costs to cities, counties and the public but he won't raise taxes.
Just bcz he won't raise taxes, doesn't mean he won't raise your fees. Like your car registration, etc.
and close Nevada State College too.
ANOTHER colossal waste of taxpayer money.
WHY exactly did we need to open another 4 year college in a state with a population smaller than many major cities?
hsr said:
"The U.S will have to increase the size of medical school by many folds."
you really don't get it. actually as the best and the brightest will no longer be interested in a career in medicine, under obamacare, that is not an issue.
all of our doctors will come from Pakistan, Sri Lanka and any other number of banana republics, JUST LIKE THEY DO IN GREAT BRITAIN. and just as in GB, the quality of medical care will plummet.
Cutting off access to higher education through excessive fees and tuition costs will guarantee one thing...... high tech industries will ignore Nevada like they do every other state with dismal education stats. How will that help the job market?
We are competing with highly educated Asia now folks. Going backwards so that businesses can keep a few more bucks makes no sense. As we gradually become a country with no middle class, education won't be necessary anymore, is that the thinking?
One thing is for sure, worker Unions will be back and bigger than ever in the upcoming years, the scales have tipped much to far in 'big businesses' favor. They'll reap what they sow, Unions.
I won't raise taxes but I will make it financially impossible for the middle class to get ahead. Do elected officials, especially the Republican ones, ever get tired of screwing the middle and lower economic classes -- EVER?????
The students bettern not complain. They did not get out and vote in the election. The Republicans have vowed to cut everything and not raise taxes so tuitions and fees will go up. If the students and their parents had come out and voted in their actual interests then we would have a democratic governor who would be more willing to increase taxes and other revenues in order to keep tuition and fees from increasing as much. But the students did not feel that it was important that they vote in the election so now they will pay the price for their indifference. Welcome to the class war of the real world kids.
Don't worry about it. I'm sure the Gov will quit this job soon enough, just like every other job he's had.
Promise not to raise taxes, but raise "fees"??? These "fees" of which there are many, not just relating to higher education, are, let's get real here, regressive taxes on the middle income and lower. The wealthy are not going to be sending Junior to UNLV or CSN, even if he is not a stellar student. Not to pick on our illustrious former president GW Bush, but he springs to mind, he was not an academic superstar yet he got into Yale, where, by his own admission he was a "C" student. Yet, despite this he got admitted to Harvard Business School's MBA program. My point, Governor B.S. is going to attempt to narrow the budget gap on the backs of middle class Nevadans, by increasing "fees" (taxes) that the middle class pay so as not to increase taxes on his wealthy corporate masters.
One thing to say if you don't like it go to school elsewhere pay the out of state tuition, when you pay that and then your cost of school it will probably be about the same as it would here so complain away and then just pay the tuitions here. If you really want to complain then complain about our current state of affairs as far as the federal government, they are putting us so far in debt that our children and grandchildren will have to pay for our generations of entitlement programs. No I am sure the ones complaining are democratic libs who think our federal government is doing a fine job.
Bad move Brian.
These kids need a bit of schooling in order to grow. Whacking our finest sends a pretty clear message about whom you aim to help and whom you aim to hinder, hamstring, hamper and hobble.
Bye bye manana.
@nancyb: Great suggestion. Our bright or ambitious kids will pick a state with good schools, move in, get a job, and qualify of the in-state tuition in that state, get an education, and stay there. Problem solved. The kids who stay here can make beds, polish floors, serve drinks, and work in the sex trade. No education needed for that, so we could save money by cutting out school altogether after the 4th grade. Budget Balanced.
Coddle the corporate interests that funded his election, and screw the students. All you folks who voted for this Republican stooge -- do any of you have kids in college, or kids planning to go to college? Get ready to open the pocket book. But look on the bright side -- no new taxes! That is, if you don't consider large tuition hikes a "tax."
This nation is about 14th in the world in per-capita college graduates. We were #1 in the 1970's.
So the solution to regain America's educational standing is too make it even harder for people to attend college?
That's right Sandy...keep jacking up the fees on mediocre education here in Nevada and those of us interested in pursuing educations will just keep on leaving in droves to receive a better eduation outside the state for the same costs.
@ nancyb
Entitlements? Like the recent $800 Billion gift to wealthy citizens the Faux Conservatives dressed up as a tax break? Yeah, your grandkids get to pay for that too.
I'd give a handicapped person a hand up rather than some fat cat, but, that's just me.
Heidi sez, "compared to other universities, our tuition is low." So, is the quality of the education and it won't be getting better with all the cuts. Also, Heidi sez, more scholarships! How, with all the budget cuts? Heidi sez, more access to federal aid for students! I could swear the House Republicans are proposing cuts to financial aid especially Pell Grants. I would love to be able to listen in when Sandoval calls CEOs to move to Nevada and hear him explain that his is recommending restricting access to a college education for Nevadans and that the already low number of college graduates per capita is only going to go lower. Why is Sandoval suggesting tuition increases, why doesn't he propose cutting programs, like college athletics? Or course, that would be unpopular and he might not get re-elected.
I betcha the number of schoolteachers who are living here now and who have recently begun a search in earnest for work elsewhere far outnumbers the number of schoolteachers elsewhere looking elsewhere in earnest.
They see the wave a'comin and can hear the moaning, the sighing of the sea.
I'll trade you three pounds of sand today for one millenium scholarship in 2014.
What a jerk. The state with the least educated people will prevent people from getting an education. So much for jobs in Nevada.
Another republican that only cares about the rich. Sandoval will prevent jobs in Nevada and reduce the value of property.
hey cynical observer,
you're missing out if you're excluding folks who may diversify a bit.
For example, a friend of mine, John Meyer, was a bleeding heart English major who wanted to become a doctor and figure out how they died. So after smashing a bunch of bodies up on the football field as a safety for the #1 ranked University of Missouri Tigers for a few years, John doctors now. I saw him on TV after the Jon Benet Ramsey thing; he was the fella who had to examine the corpse.
He did what most people don't even want to think about. And he came on TV and said what a horrible disgusting thing it was that happened to that child. Same guy I knew back in the 60s reading dumb poetry and unimportant stuff like Shakespeare and studying Art and Music and Architecture and History and of course acing Physics, Organic Chem, Anatomy, Physiology, and every other thing in his path so he could figure it all out.
You could be making the Henry Miller mistake:"Anything we deny, despise or denigrate serves only to defeat us in the end."
Listen to the Liberals bleat.
Have those quarter-of-a-million dollar to half-million dollar coaches at UNLV pay for educating the kids.
It was public money that build the college sports and the public ought to be getting the money back from sport revenue not enriching coaches.
If they want an education after high school and can't afford to pay for their own, there are plenty of government grants. Otherwise open the public libraries so people can get the greatest of education, self-education.
BLEAT!
Sorry folks, there is just not enough money and everyone has to give a little. Raising tuition a little is reasonable. Making the universities cut their budgets is reasonable too. Let's just hope that the universities cut back enough so that students aren't stuck with too big of tuition increases.
Does anyone know if Smastresk still giving $10k+ raises to staff members?
Nevada State College tuition is $2917.50, much less than UNLV. The College of Southern Nevada is a junior college granting AA degrees, not BA degrees like NSC and UNLV. NSC is a great deal for our students. Maybe that's why it is rapidly growing and gaining in respect. Author David Schwartz, you should have put NSC in there at the end of your story, too.
Recent testimony in state legislative committees revealed that Nevada students havs a 70% expectation to NOT graduating high school. Maybe this is the new Gov's compromise... sustain our higher Ed with out of state tuition, or just close the colleges, cause no one in NV will be going there anyway. Of the 30% of Nevada kids who do graduate... how many will go out of state if they can?
This makes it cheaper for all the military people at Nellis to send their dependents out of state to college. Trust me, I have two sons at CSN who should be attending UNLV next semester. If these increases go into effect, they'll be going to our permanent state of residency instead - to BETTER universities!
If an entire population (military) leaves, the increase in fees could mean a net loss ... correct?