Higher education system outlines ‘doomsday’ budget effects

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 | 11:54 a.m.

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Nevada’s public higher education system today released a synopsis of how it would cope with what some higher education officials have called a “doomsday scenario” — a budget that provided the system with state and/or federal stimulus funds equal to the amount of state funding the system received in fiscal 2006.

According to the system, such a reduction would leave state colleges and the Desert Research Institute with $555.5 million a year, 18.76 percent less than the $683.8 million they received in fiscal 2009. The memorandum higher education officials issued today in response to questions the Legislative Council Bureau asked last week paints a bleak picture of what would happen if state funding for higher education shrank to that level.

UNLV, for example, would eliminate academic programs and potentially send employees on furloughs in the neighborhood of one day a month. The school predicts it will lose about 210 faculty members and 170 part-time instructors, resulting in 2,200 fewer class sections and a 24 percent reduction in enrollment.

Under the “doomsday scenario,” the university projects eliminating about 50 staff positions in student affairs. This would slow down the processing of admissions and financial aid applications, impacting recruitment and retention — a major concern at a university where fewer than half of new freshmen graduate within six years.

The College of Southern Nevada would shut down learning centers in communities including Boulder City and Lincoln County. The school would also reduce hours of operations for computer labs, libraries and other facilities.

Nevada State College would eliminate 37 positions, 23 percent of the school’s workforce. The School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, for instance, would lose six full-time teaching positions, resulting in fewer classes in areas ranging from English and math to physical sciences and psychology. This, in turn, would affect students’ ability to graduate in a timely manner.

Discussion: 9 comments so far…

By Patrick_R_Gibbons

3/25/09 at 12:52 p.m.

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Education Trust, one of the nations most respected think tanks on higher education collected per pupil spending data on more than 500 public colleges. I assembled the data into this chart: http://npri.org/docLib/20090306_Fast_Fac...

Out of 506 schools, UNR's instructional spending per pupil ranks 25th and UNLV ranks 190th. They're not only well funded but they devote a lot of money toward students (but still cannot even graduate half of them after six years).

Many schools spend considerably less and do a better job. In fact, UNR spends twice as much per pupil as half of the schools on this list. While the budget cuts are large indeed, it is hard to conclude that UNLV or UNR are facing doomsday budgets. Per pupil expenditures at both schools will put them at spending levels equivalent to 2000-2001 -- hardly devastating. What they are perhaps most upset about is the fact that funding will not continue to grow three times faster than the rate of inflation.
By manfromuncle1

3/25/09 at 12:54 p.m.

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Did you see the Frontline documentary "10 trillion and counting" last night? (go to www.pbs.org). It was about the ballooning national debt. At some point in the future the spending has to stop because China and other countries won't loan us any more money. What happens when the U.S. govt. doesn't have the money to pay its obligations? Your checks won't be coming for Social Security. Medicare won't pay your doctor or drug bills. Sort of like MGM Mirage running out of money. Now there's no cash to finish CityCenter. It's like the movie "Robocop 2" where Detroit is bankrupt, and a drug dealer meets with the mayor and offers $50 million to save the city in exchange for the legalization of Nuke, a new drug hitting the streets.

The same thing goes for our universities and colleges. At some point in time UNLV and all the other colleges have to stop spending money on new dorms, libraries, computer labs with high-speed internet, new science labs, faculty salaries, etc. etc. They have to stop giving kickbacks to student loan companies and colluding with them to victimize students who don't know better. I can't believe some of the Nevada stories on studentloanjustice.org.

I have an accounting degree that I haven't used for anything. It's my fault that I lost interest in accounting after I got my degree, but my degree is more like glorifed office skills. The office jobs I have had required some knowledge of accounting principles but they didn't require a degree.

Also check out "Inside the Meltdown" on Frontline. It begins with the executives of Bear Sterns realizing that there isn't enough money in the company to open the next day (sort of like MGM Mirage) and ends with the collapse of Lehman Bros. (when the Fed Chairman decides to let Lehman Bros go down, somebody tells him "Dude, you just destroyed the world.")

So UNLV and other colleges--we are in the Depression of 2009. The state and the students you have victimized with colossal student loan debt don't have any more money. Casino stocks and the gambling industry are sinking fast. What part of that don't you understand?
By neiman1

3/25/09 at 4:15 p.m.

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How did the state funding for higher education CLIMB 18.76% in just 3 years to begin with. Cutting education to 2006 levels, just before the economic downturn began to be noticed should be easy. WHO sent the funding so high that now it is a doomsday scenario.

Has anyone suggested the employees of these "protected" institutions reduce their salaries to 2006 levels. Like AIG , give it back.
By nevadaappleslices

3/25/09 at 5:55 p.m.

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It should not be that difficult to cut back to 2006 levels. Furloughs are happening at many U.S. universities, so it is reasonable for UNLV to do the same. In my opinion, all of the UNLV doomsday scenario cuts seem reasonable.
By jfnance32

3/25/09 at 6:14 p.m.

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Does not sound that bad.

If they raise tuition then they will not have to cut so much.

Let's go for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the memo...Rogers.
By brst

3/25/09 at 8:10 p.m.

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Want to know something funny? Even if the higher education system wanted to go back to '06 levels, it couldn't. Most of the increases over the past four years we're earmarked by the legislature for specific purposes (cost of living adjustments, specific program enhancements, etc.) Unable to rollback those increases, the universities must ax entire programs to make up the difference.
By brst

3/25/09 at 8:20 p.m.

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A couple other things... While the Legislature may force higher ed back to 2006 funding, that funding is going to need to be stretched to support the larger 2009 enrollments...also, I doubt the private utilities, insurance and supply companies will roll back their rates so that the universities can go back to paying what they did four years ago.
By orientalobserver

3/27/09 at 5:26 a.m.

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Please remember that Nevada State College is new and growing, and just opened its first building, devoted to liberal arts and sciences. NSC fills the gap between the huge bloated level I research university (UNLV) and the huge bloated wannabe a real college (CCSN)by offering real bachelor's degrees, especially in the medical-related fields that our aging population will need.
By morgen

3/27/09 at 10:31 a.m.

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Mr. NPRI: per-pupil spending is just one indicator, and hardly shows if a school is well-funded or not. Just take a look at the rankings on your table--do you think (using your common sense, if you have one) they are directly related to the quality of the institution? Give us a break, Mr Gibbons, you know NOTHING about education, stick to your private sector, who is now in deep trouble thanks to the policies you and your fellow Republicans defend so adamantly.

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