Budget Cuts Plague Public Universities

The University of Washington turned thermostats down in the winter.

The University of California is considering restructuring its administration.

For states facing budget woes because of a slumping economy, higher education could be the first item on the chopping block, and many states, including North Carolina, are searching for new ways to trim the fat.

Although the UNC system has had to slash about $64 million from its budget this academic year, North Carolina is not alone in having to trim public higher education.

Dick Thompson, director of government relations for the University of Washington- Seattle, said the school will lose about $23 million this year because of budget cuts. All told, Thompson said the three-campus UW system will lose about $55 million.

To make up for the cuts, the regents of the UW system approved a tuition increase of up to 16 percent, Thompson said.

He said the university already has used about $6 million in reserves and that energy costs were cut first. "All the thermometers were put down to 65 degrees," he said.

Thompson speculated that the university will look first to re-engineering -- cutting back on administrative costs. He also said the governor of Washington has proposed a hiring freeze.

Thompson said that as the university continues to cut, it will next look to decreasing the amount of state funding in self-supporting programs that could be paid for by tuition or private donations. Then, Thompson said the university would increase class sizes and -- as a last option -- would cut academic programs.

"These are presumed to be permanent cuts by the state legislature and the budget office," Thompson said. "No new programs are being offered next year, and the university is still expecting a shortfall."

Thompson said that because other government services are often constitutionally mandated, higher education is often the first to go. "Unfortunately, in our state for higher education, it is the largest discretionary expenditure."

A representative of the UC system said the system has not experienced the detrimental effects of California's budget shortfall, which totals more than $10 billion for the fiscal year.

"It's a little early for us," said Brad Hayward, spokesman for the UC system. "We're just entering the state budget process. So far we have not seen any student fee increases, and we're not expecting any increases."

Hayward added that the economic success of the late 1990s helped the UC system stay afloat during California's deficit. "We received some very healthy funding in the late 1990s when the economy was good," he said.

But Hayward and many others in California expect cuts to come in the 2002-03 fiscal year.

Hayward said programs that received additional funding in the past will probably be the first on the chopping block. "Programs that received generous funding in those years might be most able to absorb a reduction," he said.

Ferrel Guillory, director of UNC's Program on Southern Politics, Media and Public Life, said how states shield their institutes of higher education will have a large impact on the future of those states.

Guillory said, "Those states which come out of this recession with the least amount of damage to their schools are going to have a competitive advantage."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.