Community colleges join battle for bigger share of funding

Friday, June 9, 2000 | 10:43 a.m.

The war for equity funding of higher education in Nevada apparently has expanded from primarily a north/south -- UNR vs. UNLV -- issue to a slightly grander scale.

Now it appears that the two longtime rivals will have to face a common foe -- the community colleges from both ends of the state -- in the battle for significant dollars.

A report released Thursday to a committee of education officials and lawmakers drew criticism from some of its members who say the colleges are requesting too large a piece of the pie.

At one point, Sen. Bill Raggio, R-Reno, chairman of the Committee to Study the Funding for Higher Education, quipped that the committee could recommend the creation of two boards of regents -- one for colleges, the other for universities -- and have them go to the Legislature to battle it out for funds.

The report from a group of university and college business officials would provide more money to all of the state's colleges and universities by changing an antiquated 1980s' formula to a more accountable system for staffing and equipment purchases.

This year, University of Nevada, Reno, and UNLV are getting 68 percent of the state's higher education funds, which, under the new formula, would shrink to 66.35 percent, while the colleges would get 33.65 percent.

By 2007, UNLV and UNR's funding would be reduced to 61.56 percent, while the colleges would get 38.44 percent under the new formula.

"I'm troubled by how the figures came out," said committee member Steve Sisolak, a member of the Board of Regents who has led the efforts to move higher education funding from Reno to Las Vegas.

"This is a shifting of the funding from universities to colleges. I thought the purpose of this (committee) was for parity and equity. I don't want this to be a community college vs. university or a north/south issue."

Committee member Don Snyder noted that had the proposed new formula been in place in 1998, Western Nevada Community College would have received $17 million -- 28.5 percent more than it got -- and Truckee Meadows Community College would have gotten $32.9 million or about 32 percent more than it received.

Meanwhile, he said, UNLV would have received about 7 percent more than the $124 million it got in 1998, and UNR would have gotten less than a half-percent more than its $114-million-plus budget.

"Nothing (from earlier committee meetings) shows a significant out-of-balance in the past," Snyder said. "(Apparently) the old formula did not adequately fund colleges."

Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, a committee member and UNLV professor, said it appears to her that university financial officials followed the committee's directions by presenting workable numbers while, "the colleges left much more on their wish list."

Committee member Carol Harter, UNLV's president, said the community colleges need to have "a stronger sense of reality."

However, Truckee Meadows President John Richardson told the board not to be too hasty to criticize the colleges' proposed money needs, but instead look at the enrollment numbers that, he says, justify the colleges getting far more funding.

He noted that in the fall of 1986, 65 percent of higher education students in Nevada went to universities. By the fall of 1999, however, just 53 percent of the state's students went to universities compared to 47 percent attending colleges.

Richardson also said that in the fall of 1992, Nevada residents attending Nevda colleges was at 55.3 percent and grew to 64.6 percent by last fall. Meanwhile, UNR's and UNLV's enrollment of Nevada residents dipped to 35.4 percent by last autumn.

"The fundamental question for this body is which are most important to be educated ... Nevada residents or non-Nevada residents?" Richardson said.

Funding equity has long been a north/south university issue because UNLV is about 8 percent underfunded compared to similar size campuses, while UNR gets nearly 24 percent above the average of its peer learning centers.

In short, UNR gets $10,482 per student in state money while UNLV gets $7,834 per student.

The new formula appears to adjust that situation by giving UNLV significantly more money each year. The formula would increase UNLV's funding from $35 million more than UNR gets this year to $92 million more than UNR will get in the year in 2007.

The new formula would increase UNLV's 2000 funding by 6.3 percent to $155.7 million. By 2007, that figure would be $256.9 million. Meanwhile, UNR would increase less than 2 percent under the new formula this year to $124.2 million, climbing to $164.4 million in 2007.