Metro ranks last in funding

Tara Moberly
tmoberly@mscd.edu

Compared with other schools in the state, Metro receives less state funding per student than other colleges, leading many to ask why the college gets no love from the legislature.

In the Fall of 2007, Metro had 20,523 resident undergraduate students and received $49 million in funding. At five other four-year institutions in the state —Western State College, CU-Pueblo, Fort Lewis College, Adams and Mesa State — the combined undergrad population was only 15,300 students. Those schools also had a total funding of $80 million.

For the 2007-2008 school year, Metro received $3,028 per student from the state, less than the other five colleges. In comparison, Western State College received more than twice as much, taking in $7,821 per student.

“This is what I’m talking about in terms of the equity question," Metro President Stephen Jordan said at the Feb. 4 Board of Trustees meeting. "It is hard to argue that it is fair for those institutions to receive about 60 percent more funding with three quarters of the number of students we have. This is part of the issue that we’re trying to overcome. "So when the governor chooses to not use the funding formula as also a way of going down, that is to try and create equity, this is the kind of disparity that results from a public policy perspective,” Jordan added.

This year, Metro received an 11.2 percent increase in general fund money, aimed at catching the college up to the level of its peer schools. The increase, the largest given to any school in the state, was ultimately taken back once budget cuts were announced, leaving Metro to fall behind again.

Jordan said he plans to voice his concerns about what he feels is an inequality in funding to Governor Bill Ritter and other state legislators.

Others at Metro have joined Jordan in criticizing the funding process, pointing out that it is Metro students who ultimately pay the price.

“Not only have we (the faculty) been treated unfairly, but our students are being treated unfairly. It’s Metro’s students that are being treated like chopped liver, I mean (they) are not getting the services (they) should be getting,” Faculty Senate President Lynn Kaersvang said at the Feb. 4 Faculty Senate meeting.

While changes aren’t likely to be made now given the “extreme” budget situation currently facing the state, Kaersvang said she hopes the legislature remembers the cuts it made when future budgets are formulated.

But according to state Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, the state does take into account the per-student funding when making decisions.

“The desire of the legislature is a goal of getting everyone to the medium of their peers. Given the budget constraints, it’s just not possible. Given the constraints with K-12, corrections and Medicaid, because of the process, you (higher education) tend to take larger of the brunt of the pain because you don’t have the same protections,” said Ferrandino, who is a member of the Colorado State Joint Budget Committee. In the future, Ferrandino said the legislature may have to consider different ways of making cuts, focusing more on how to cut money while still moving colleges closer to the funding level of their peer schools as well as determining which colleges are better able to absorb budget cuts.

Evan Dreyer, spokesman for Gov. Ritter, wouldn’t comment on the per-student funding issue.

“What no one foresaw was a global economic recession and dramatic decrease in revenue. We are in better shape than many others. The problem with the budget system is that there is very little flexibility. Unfortunately, higher ed is one of those places. We’ve done everything possible to avoid cuts,” Dreyer said.