$1 bil. budget seen for state’s colleges

Friday, Aug. 11, 2000 | 11:05 a.m.

RENO -- A two-year budget in excess of $1 billion is being prepared by the Board of Regents, which is expecting an influx of new students into the University and Community College System of Nevada.

A budget of that size would reflect a 15 percent increase over the previous budget and require the state to kick in 19 percent more than it did last time.

The regents, who today are wrapping up a two-day meeting, will soon present their budget request to Gov. Kenny Guinn.

Included in the overall budget request will be a "wish list" of $26.4 million for starting a new state college at Henderson, beginning the Redfield campus of the University of Nevada, Reno, planning for UNLV's Summerlin Campus and other one-time expenditures.

Board Chairwoman Thalia Dondero did not attend the meeting because of a death in the family. But she sent a message saying she is committed to fighting for an adequate budget.

The regents want $741.4 million from the state, which would be an increase of 19.1 percent. They project that student fees will account for $215.3 million, an increase of 18.2 percent. Their budget also has $72.5 million coming from other sources, which would represent a 19.4 percent decrease in money from these sources.

The "other sources" include federal funds, yield from investments and receipts from the state estate tax.

Student fees would be increased in the next two years under the proposed budget.

A credit hour at the universities would go from $74 to $76.50 in September 2001 and $79 the following year. Fees for the community colleges would rise from $42.50 to $44 and then to $45.50.

The state college at Henderson, which plans to open next year, will charge $60 a credit hour for the first students and it will then rise to $62.

Guinn has directed all agencies to submit status-quo budgets while allowing for growth. The proposed budget does not include any cost-of-living increases for faculty.

The regents' Planning and Finance Committee recommended the budget Thursday and the full board voted today.

The university is predicting a student growth of 7.9 percent starting in September next year and then 9.5 percent the following year. By the end of the biennium there will be an estimated 59,915 full-time equivalent students, many of them to come because of Guinn's Millennium Scholarship program.

A breakdown shows UNLV is budgeted for $295.6 million, a 16.5 percent increase, and the Community College of Southern Nevada for $162.2 million, up 27.2 percent.

Despite the increases, the new budget shows UNLV drawing a smaller share of the budget. UNLV now receives 29 percent of the system's budget and that will decrease to 28.5 percent. CCSN's share of the budget will increase from 15.6 percent to 15.9 percent.

The state college at Henderson would get $7.2 million the second year of the biennium, or 1.4 percent of the total budget.

If there is additional money available to Guinn, the wish list also includes a request for $1.6 million for a program at UNLV's law school, $600,000 for a bachelor's degree program at Great Basin Community College, $1.8 million for a dental school at UNLV, and $2.8 million for a school of pharmacy at UNR.