Regents ponder how to resolve funding inequities

Wednesday, May 5, 1999 | 9:57 a.m.

The Board of Regents was to begin a special meeting today at UNLV to discuss what many perceive to be a funding crisis, at least for UNLV and the Community College of Southern Nevada.

A study released by an independent research firm last week said Nevada's higher education system needed an immediate infusion of $24 million to correct funding inequities.

The community college here needs more than $15 million, according to the report by MGT of America.

The study confirms claims by Southern Nevada regents that there is a funding disparity between Northern and Southern campuses. It found UNLV came up short by $534 per full-time equivalent student, as opposed to an actual student count, and the Community College of Southern Nevada fell short by $1,291.

Southern Nevada regents said the disparity was as high as $3,000 per full-time equivalent student. University of Nevada, Reno officials said it was closer to $400.

While the need is great in the state's colleges and universities, the likelihood that the Legislature will be able to meet that need seems slim following the release of the state's revenue estimates for the next two years.

The Economic Forum, a group of five financial experts, said last week there is an extra $105.5 million in the $3.2 billion budget.

But most of the $105.5 million will go for programs other than higher education.

The state's estate tax may be the only resource the regents have to address the funding equity issue. That tax, which adds about $50 million a year to the higher education budget, is expected to come under close scrutiny at today's meeting.

The funding equity study released last week by the independent research firm MGT of America described the formula used to fund higher education in Nevada as "moderately complex."

The higher education funding formula has six factors: instruction, student services, academic support, library acquisitions, institutional support, and plant operations and maintenance.

Each category has its own funding and budget.

The funding equity study noted that different institutions have made cases for being underfunded in different areas.

No campus is overfunded, the study pointed out. "In fact, the intrasystem equity analysis suggested additional funding needs for all six institutions in specific areas."

UNR's vice president of finance and administration noted that the report did not take into consideration factors that could have resulted in a finding that UNR is suffering from an inequity in funding.

As it is, Ashrok K. Dhingra said, some of the numbers MGT used for UNR were "not adjusted." If they had been, the inequity between Reno and UNLV would have been lower.

MGT also did not consider the greater demands on the library at UNR, which is a research library, Dhingra said, and economies of scale were not considered.

"What that means is as the enrollments grow, support costs per student FTE decrease," he said.

Still, he said, "We need to put this matter behind us and move forward with the Legislature to get appropriate funding for the two universities so we can provide the best education for the citizens of the state regardless of where they may live, whether north or south."

Besides the inequity of $534 for UNLV, and $1,291 for CCSN, the report found Truckee Meadows Community College fell short $187 per full time equivalent student and Western Nevada was short $238.

The report recommended the state pump an additional $24 million into the higher education system this year to correct the imbalance.

In addition to funding for the six categories in the funding formula, there are a dozen programs outside the formula that must be funded, including such things as the medical and law schools, scholarships, intercollegiate sports and the University and Community College System of Nevada's administration.

The formula, criticized for years but under the most severe attack in the past four months, was adopted by the state Legislature in 1986.

Critics have said the formula punishes campuses that grow more rapidly than the others, because the growth is not fully funded in the support functions.

For example, the Community College of Southern Nevada, which has the most rapid growth rate of the state's six university and community college campuses, was also found to be the furthest behind in funding.

In an effort to find a fair comparison, MGT looked at core funding levels of the various institutions, eliminating from the analysis those things that did not have a counterpart on the other campus, such as the medical school in Reno and the law school at UNLV.

The researchers then compared the state's colleges and universities with institutions of comparable size and purpose in other states, using all factors.

In state comparisons, the study found that Nevada's higher education system is among the fastest growing in the country. Between 1985 and 1995, it had the fastest rate of enrollment growth of all 15 WICHE states and was second in the nation only to Georgia.

WICHE, The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, serves 15 states -- including Nevada -- in providing regional scholarships.

Overall head count in the Nevada system grew by almost 55 percent between 1988 and 1998, to 82,666. And the full time equivalency count increased 72.5 percent, 45,646.

The Community College of Southern Nevada grew by 192 percent in full-time equivalency and UNLV grew 59.2 percent.

The study also points out that per-student support of higher education in Nevada, both from taxes and tuition, is above the national average -- at 108.7 percent. Connecticut, at 172.4 percent is highest, while California, at 74 percent, is lowest.

Also, while Nevada has the lowest rate in the nation of high school graduates who go to college, the state also is projected to have the fastest-growing number of high school graduates in the nation through 2012, which should result in a growing number of college freshmen, the study notes.

In the 1997-99 biennium, the state appropriated $777.6 million to the higher education system.

Reno received 35.5 percent of that; UNLV got 29.9 percent; the Community College of Southern Nevada, 13 percent; Great Basin Community College, 2.1 percent; Truckee Meadows, 5.9 percent; and Western Nevada Community College, 3.4 percent.

Though Reno has the smaller number of students, both by actual head count and full-time equivalency, it has the medical school, agricultural program and a number of other factors that drive up the cost, the study notes.

Dhingra noted that more than 1,000 students from the north go to UNLV and about the same number from the south go to Reno.

"We cannot shortchange and should not shortchange these students from either part of the state from receiving a quality education," he said.

"We cannot shortchange and should not shortchange these students from either part of the state from receiving a quality education."Ashrok K. DhingraUNR FINANCE VICE PRESIDENT