Commission pushes for state higher ed. goals

ANNAPOLIS - Despite knowing the $700 million price tag is too expensive for the state, legislators and academics pressed ahead with a new 10-year funding model for the state's public universities yesterday, hoping the state will adopt their recommendations as goals.

The bill, based on two years of study by the Commission to Develop the Maryland Model for Funding Higher Education - informally known as the Bohanan Commission after its chair, Del. John Bohanan (D-St. Mary's) - was showcased for the House Appropriations Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. Backers of the legislation say they sense increased support for higher education in Annapolis and would not be disappointed if the state were to adopt the policy without mandating it be fully funded.

"It sets the guidelines, which is how we have funded education over the past 10 years," Bohanan said. "It raises the bar and sets a goal and a challenge."

Although funds are dedicated to K-12 education, community colleges and private institutions, state money has never been mandated for public colleges and universities. The funding model encompasses all public higher education institutions and balances state money, financial aid and tuition so that funds cannot be taken away from one area without going to another.

Still, state Sen. Jim Rosapepe (D-Anne Arundel and Prince George's), who represents College Park, will present a bill to the senate in a few weeks that mandates that many of the Bohanan Commission's recommendations, particularly ones related to financial aid and tuition, be fully funded by the state. But the bill is unlikely to pass, due to its $700 million price tag over the next decade.

"I think both bills, because they are expensive, are going to be very difficult to get through this year, but we'll keep pushing forward," Rosapepe said.

The state is in rough financial shape, especially as revenues from income and sales taxes are declining. Gov. Martin O'Malley's (D) budget needed to close a $2 billion deficit, and state legislative analysts are projecting billion dollar deficits for the next several years.

The commission recommended the state base its funding guidelines off how well the states Maryland competes with for employers fund their universities, asking for greater financial support for higher education than in three quarters of those states. Previously, recommendations were based off how well universities' peer institutions were funded.

Having received no negative feedback, Bohanan, who chairs the Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on education and economic development, thinks the bill will pass, but university officials offered no guarantees.

"I think they want to get to the goals in the funding formula, but remember, we're in the worst budget crisis anyone down here has ever seen," said Ross Stern, the university lobbyist. "It would be extremely unlikely to pass a bill that mandates hundreds of millions more dollars. That said, if we can get this policy in place, it's a very positive thing. When we come out of this budget crisis, maybe then we can get some funding attached to it."

The state legislature set goals for higher education funding in 1988 and 1998 but never completely funded or supported either formula, university President Dan Mote said.

"The state mandated an enormous amount into K-12 education, and now we have the No. 1 school system in the country, and that was also an investment over a 10-year period," Mote said. "Now they're wondering where the good students from K-12 are going to go. Now they're starting to focus on higher education."

Supporters also touted the accountability measures in the bill, which include a process that would track progress made by public universities on a website. That progress would then be subject to review by the General Assembly. The model's 10-year plan will begin whenever money is dedicated to the formula.

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