Southern Nevada’s community college, university big winners in state budget battle

Thursday, June 3, 1999 | 9:41 a.m.

Over the next two years, UNLV and the Community College of Southern Nevada will collect $82 million of the $115 million in additional state and tuition dollars earmarked for higher education across the state, according to preliminary budget figures from the university system.

For the most part, the infusions will help the Las Vegas-area campuses sustain booming student populations but some of the dollars will go toward fixing funding disparities that favor Northern Nevada students over their counterparts in the south.

"This is a phenomenal vote of confidence for our students in Southern Nevada," community college President Richard Moore said Tuesday.

The community college will get a 30 percent increase in funding and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas was promised 21 percent more to cover expenses over the next two years. That compares with a 5 percent gain for the University of Nevada, Reno, where enrollment is flat.

In past years, university system Chancellor Richard Jarvis said, UNR's percentage increases have been more in line with those at UNLV and other campuses. The Legislature this session was pressed by Southern Nevada regents and college presidents to spend more money on the high-growth campuses.

Overall, the University and Community College System of Nevada received a 15 percent increase in funding for fall 1999 to spring 2001, compared with the current two-year budget cycle. The upcoming biennium's total of $894.3 million compares with $777.7 million for fall 1997 through spring 1999.

The Community College of Southern Nevada will have a $138.9 million share of the budget pie, compared with $106.5 million in the current biennium. The college, which has doubled its enrollment since 1993, also has doubled its budget.

Almost $292 million, including a potential $7.5 million in Medicaid dollars to open a dental school, will go to UNLV, compared with $240.4 million for the current two-year budget cycle.

Although UNR is expected to serve less than 60 percent of UNLV's expected 16,500 full-time students, the Reno campus will have a two-year budget of $300.1 million. That's due in part to the Reno university running the state's medical school as well as Nevada's agricultural and cooperative extension programs. Another part of the difference is a historical disparity in student funding.

The 1999 Legislature agreed to spend nearly $12 million over the next two years to close 25 percent of that disparity. Lawmakers also agreed to study ways to improve the state's higher education formulas and prevent future imbalances.