Mandate beats out the market

The pressures of market-driven education are taking a toll on the nation’s colleges and universities, a recent report states, but UNC-system administrators say they are holding fast to their constitutional obligation to state residents.

The report, issued by the Futures Project at Brown University, states that a balance must be struck between increasingly aggressive market forces and the need to preserve public universities’ commitment to their constituents.

Titled “Correcting Course: How We Can Restore the Ideals of Public Higher Education in a Market-Driven Era,” it cites recent requests by Virginia universities for increased autonomy from the state. Those requests have drawn attention at UNC-Chapel Hill, where students and administrators say the University is following a similar path by following a market-based tuition philosophy.

Lara Couturier, author of the Futures Project report, said market forces can be frustrating but are unavoidable. Lawmakers and higher education officials, she said, must create legislation designed to make higher education more efficient and accessible to all.

“I think it is unrealistic to try and reverse market trends because market forces are so very powerful, but there are ways to work to navigate market forces to make sure the public mission of universities and colleges is not lost,” she said.

At the Virginia schools, that traditional mission has come into question. Three schools — the University of Virginia, the College of William and Mary and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University — asked the state for less funding in return for greater autonomy.

Edward Irish, director of the office of financial aid at the College of William and Mary, said more predictable tuition increases will be a major benefit of the changes in Virginia, which the state’s General Assembly seems likely to approve.

“UVa. has copied the Carolina Covenant and gone one better than that,” he said, referring to UNC-Chapel Hill’s program to provide sufficient financial aid to allow any qualified student to attend the university.

“That has set a high standard for the schools in the state.”

But one problem with a market-based system is that it focuses too much on short-term economic concerns instead of “what makes the most sense for the longer term public interest,” Couturier said.

Jeff Davies, vice president for finance for UNC system, is keeping that public interest in mind. He said the 16 universities are not moving toward a market-based system, but instead will continue to operate under Article IX, Section 9 of the N.C. Constitution.

That section of the constitution says university students should receive a free education “as far as practicable.”

It gels with the Futures Project report, which contends that increased tuition costs have left education inaccessible to needy students.

“We work very hard with the General Assembly to meet that mandate,” Davies said.

The report also states that a move away from state funding will lead many state institutions to become tied to private groups.

But Davies said North Carolina is a special case.

“It goes back to our forefathers that created a system of public higher education,” he said.

“Throughout history, we have honored their goal of having it be as free of expense as practical for North Carolina residents.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.