Report: UNLV, community college get shortchanged

Thursday, April 29, 1999 | 11:43 a.m.

RENO -- UNLV and Community College of Southern Nevada are being shortchanged by the state's system of funding higher education, a report released today says.

The independent funding study commissioned by the Board of Regents supported claims that there is a funding inequity within the higher education system.

The study by MGT of America, a Tallahassee, Fla.-based research organization, recommended that the regents seek an additional $24 million in funding from this Legislature to correct the inequities.

According to the study released this morning as the regents met in Reno, the University of Nevada Reno receives $534 more per full-time student equivalency than does UNLV.

"We believed there was going to be some inequity, but we didn't think it would be that high," UNR President Joe Crowley said.

UNR estimates had the gap at $483 per full-time student equivalency. UNLV had figured it at more than $2,000.

The study noted that the Community College of Southern Nevada was hit hardest by the present funding inequity, receiving $1,291 less per student than it should.

"It's criminal the way we have treated the Community College of Southern Nevada," Regent Tom Kirkpatrick of Las Vegas said.

Truckee Meadows and Western Nevada community colleges also have been short-changed, the study showed, at $187 and $238 respectively per full-time student equivalency.

Kirkpatrick said the regents should request $48 million from the Legislature, to cover the $24 million shortfall of each year of the biennium.

"The study was well thought out and is a step in the right direction," Regent Mark Alden of Las Vegas said.

"This is the first step," he said. "The next step is we have to change the way we fund higher education in this state." He said a mandatory funding formula similar to the way public education is funded should be put into place.

"I am very pleased at the outcome of the study," Regent Steve Sisolak of Las Vegas said. "We are committed to making the changes."

At a meeting Feb. 26 the regents committed themselves to creating equitable funding of northern and southern colleges and universities.

The commitment came at the conclusion of a heated two-day meeting that saw overflow crowds at the Community College of Southern Nevada's Charleston Campus.

The agreement passed by the board at its February meeting stated that the board would pay for an independent funding study that will make recommendations to achieve equity in funding.

The regents in February also pledged that any new money appropriated by the Legislature after a meeting today of the Economic Forum will be used to reduce funding inequities. The Economic Forum, five lay members who are specialists in business and finance, provides the estimates of tax revenue that the state uses for its budgeting.

Under the February agreement, UNLV would be in line for $9 million, the Community College of Southern Nevada $7 million and Truckee Meadows Community College $1 million.

If more money does not become available through the Legislature, the regents said they are committed to reallocating funds from the system's estate tax fund to reduce the inequity.

The brawl over funding of the state's colleges and universities comes as the state is cutting corners everywhere to make up a $120 million deficit over the next two years.

The budget crisis began last December, when the Economic Forum predicted slower growth than state officials had expected.

If the revenue estimates go up, more money will be available for all state programs, including the colleges and universities. State officials have warned that while revenue estimates are likely to rise, they are unlikely to rise enough to cover all the shortages the state is experiencing.

Gov. Kenny Guinn has said that his first priority if revenue estimates go up is to give state employees a raise.

If extra money doesn't materialize for the state's colleges and universities, southern regents Sisolak and Alden and university officials from the south want to be sure extra money comes from somewhere.