Thursday, May 2, 2002 | 11:08 a.m.
Rising tuition costs and lackluster state funding have made attending college in Nevada more expensive and less accessible, according to a study released this morning.
During the last decade, the state's contribution per student has decreased -- at a pace among the worst in the the nation -- and families are shouldering more of the cost, the study says.
Joni Finney, vice president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, which released the study, said the state's low level of spending, scant offerings of need-based scholarships and increasing tuition costs will likely leave Nevada further behind the rest of the nation if trends don't change.
"Nevada is actually divesting itself from higher education," Finney said. "It is really bucking the national trend toward investing in human capital as a way to secure its future in the marketplace."
Finney said that growth was one of the biggest factors affecting state funding to higher education. She said with a large influx of students Nevada has been unable to keep up.
According to the report, Nevada's spending on higher education went from $7,219 per student in 1992 to $5,977 in 2000.
The study looked at aid available to students and found that Nevada is only financially helping 27 percent of its poor families meet college expenses. Middle class families are spending a larger portion of their income than ever, the report said.
Jane Nichols, Nevada's higher education chancellor agreed that if the state does not find new sources of revenue, further cuts to higher education could have negative consequences.
But Nichols disagreed with the reasons behind the decrease in state spending saying it is due to a large shift of students attending lower priced community colleges.
"It just simply means that we are being extremely efficient in educating students because the state is saving more money from educating those students," Nichols said.
Finney said the figure is calculated to included students in every sector of public higher education and Nevada across the board still measures up poorly in its spending compared to other states.
"Many people would say (low state spending) shows a lack of commitment," Finney said. "Whatever the case they are not investing in college education."
The report called "Losing Ground," conducted by the San Jose, Calif. nonpartisan think tank, found five national trends over a 10-year period:
Over the past decade, college tuition in Nevada has gone up 24 percent. The average income made by families has lagged, growing only 11 percent during the same period.
But Nevada bucked two other trends: State financial support increased in most states but decreased in Nevada. And students here tend to borrow less than the national average, despite the rising cost of college.
The gap between what Nevadans make and what they spend on college could be even greater given another set of tuition increases, which are planned but which the report does not reflect, Finney said.
Last month, Nevada's Board of Regents voted to increase tuition for both undergraduates and graduates by about 15 percent over two years.
The increase was justified by citing state funding shortages and Nevada's below- average tuitions compared to other western states.
Nichols said tuition increase will help allocate between about $6 million and $9 million more money toward needy students.
"When we raised our tuition this time, we didn't want to do it unless we also created more need-based scholarships," Nichols said.
The state also offers some scholarships through its estate tax fund, a source of revenue that will be depleted within two years, according to university system officials.
Assemblyman Wendell Williams, D-Las Vegas, chairman of the Education Committee, said he was disturbed by the trends noted in the report and said he would bring up those concerns during the 2003 Legislative session.
"We are making college less and less accessible for folks," Williams said. "I cannot pinpoint what the Legislature will do in regard to this, but I assure you it will be addressed."
While there was an upswing in merit-based aid here due to the state's Millennium Scholarship program, Nevada has not done much over the past 10 years to bridge the gap in aid to low-income students, the report showed.
Merit-based aid increased by 792 percent, but need-based aid to low-income students increased only 27 percent.
Nevada's Prepaid Tuition program is one avenue low-income families can use to soothe the sting of rising tuition costs, Brian Krolicki, Nevada's state treasurer, said.
About $30 million has been amassed so far in that fund, which sets aside enough money to pay for a four-year education. Krolicki pointed out that the prepaid plan is transferable to any state and also to siblings and first cousins.
"It's critical for people to get in while we know tuition is still cheap," Krolicki said. "You're locking in tuition at today's rates. The money is going to be growing for 18 years."
But Finney warned that if Nevada continues its habit of taking away from higher education when money is tight, it could hurt a state trying to diversify its economy.
"It's a mentality that says sock it to higher education in times of economic hardship," Finney said. "It's really going to affect the level of education down the line. Nevada won't be economically competitive. And it's not going to attract the sort of high-level, high-knowledge businesses that it wants."
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