Tripling college tuition proposed

Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2002 | 9:07 a.m.

RENO -- University officials on Monday responded to suggestions that student tuition be tripled and that Nevada schools place added emphasis on catering to private industry.

Participants -- including state officials and educators -- in Monday's roundtable discussion addressed items that might be included in a master plan for the University and Community College System of Nevada.

School officials also were asked to focus on ways to profit from university research and to raise achievement among students enrolled in public schools.

Preliminary goals of the 10-year master plan include items such as increasing the number of high school graduates in Nevada who attend college from 40 percent to 53 percent -- the average among Western states. Nevada has the lowest percentage in the West of high school students going on to college.

Another target involves enrolling more minority students in the state's universities.

University Chancellor Jane Nichols told the 35 people who attended Monday's meeting that the Board of Regents could use the plan as a guide in allocating state money.

Regents are facing issues that include creating a pharmacy school at the University of Nevada, Reno; increasing the number of baccalaureate programs at Great Basin College in Elko; and building a community college in Mesquite.

Nichols said the university system will be forced to double in size if it is to accommodate the state's population growth.

The first draft of the master plan includes a recommendation for a 40 percent increase in tuition over the next 10 years. It adds that the state must increase its support for improvements, beginning with $16 million in this fiscal year to $160 million annually in 10 years.

Nichols said that section of the report is being rewritten in light of the events of Sept. 11, which led to the recent economic downturn.

Bruce James, chairman of the board of the private Sierra College at Lake Tahoe, said Nevada ranked low nationally on tuition rates at public universities. He said there were many grant programs available for students who can't afford higher tuition rates.

"Let's triple it (tuition)," he said.

Nichols replied, "Have you ever seen students march?"

The Lumina Foundation for Education recently released a study on the skyrocketing cost of higher education. The report said 43 percent of Nevada's public and private colleges are too expensive for low-income students who depend on their parents' incomes.

State Budget Director Perry Comeaux said the university system receives 17 percent to 18 percent of the state's budget, and that is not likely to change. He said the money the state collects in tax revenue has to increase before the university receives additional funding.

"Everybody is for improving education," Comeaux said. "But when it comes to paying for it, that's another matter."

System officials must talk about what it needs to spend in the next 10 years "if it is to have any chance of making improvements," Comeaux said

Norman Dianda, owner of a Reno construction company, and Ray Bacon of the Nevada Manufacturers Association, said the system should be turning out graduates to fill the needs of business.

Dianda said the system must "deliver a product" that private business can use. He said both the construction industry and International Game Technology, which makes gaming machines, are looking for qualified workers.

The average construction worker, he said, earns between $55,000 and $60,000 a year, and key personnel make $100,000 to $110,000.

"These are not low-paying jobs," he said.

Bacon said there was a "desperate need" for qualified workers, and the universities and public schools were not doing a good job in producing such graduates.

One key goal, Nichols said, regards a sense of accountability within the system. The universities and community colleges must assess the effectiveness of their programs, look at their graduation rates and shift the focus from what is taught to what students actually learn.