'We're going to be in for a tough couple of years'

Written by: Tara Moberly
Photo by: Andrew Bisset


Metro President Stephen Jordan outlined the budget crisis facing the college Feb. 16 at a packed townhall meeting, highlighting the low level of state funding Metro receives compared to other colleges in the state.

“I think at some point, people need to say enough is enough. Why is it fair that Colorado residents at one institution get funded at this level and at another institution get funded at this level. And that’s I think the level of awareness we’re trying to create with policy makers today that the cumulative effect of these decisions — which I think they weren’t meant to be mean — but the cumulative effect at this point has created an inequity that in my view rises to a point where policy makers need to start accepting responsibility for it,” Jordan said, highlighting the low level of state funds Metro receives in comparison to other Colorado colleges, prompting applause from the crowd.

Metro has more resident undergraduate students than any other college in the state, with 3,000 more than the second place school Colorado State University in Fort Collins and is home to more recipients of the Pell Grant than any other school, a fact Jordan highlighted as evidence that the legislature needs to reconsider the manner in which they fund Metro.

Compared with five similar schools across the state — CSU-Pueblo, Fort Lewis College, Adams State and Mesa State — Metro receives less funding from the state.

“They have $31 million more with 5,000 less students,” Jordan said.

“That is the nature of our problem and that is what we are out talking to the governor about and the Commission on Higher Education about. Quite frankly, I have said to the governor and the commission that if we were a public school, we would have a great legal case for equal protection of our students because we have the most under represented, the most low income students, and yet, they are clearly receiving significantly less support than all other students at regional comprehensive institutions.”

Jordan outlined the funding picture through a series of slides – a presentation he also shared with the Colorado Commission on Higher Education recently.

“Their jaws dropped,” Jordan said of the commission’s response to the presentation.
“If nothing else, we’ve scored debate points.”

Gov. Bill Ritter was also presented the same data and while he acknowledged that the numbers on funding are correct, made no promises that more will be done to bring increased funds to Metro.

While the CU and CSU legislators are highly visible at the capitol, the Metropolitan legislators are not and have never stood up for higher education in the community, Jordan said.

“One of the difficulties we have is so many of the people in the governor’s administration — I’m trying not to be too negative — but so many of them are basically CU people. That’s a tough thing to overcome. And, of course, my friend Mr. Benson’s pretty persuasive at that political level,” he said, pointing out the increased difficulties Metro faces within the legislation.

This prompted Jordan to call on all faculty and staff to talk to the legislators from their home districts and make the case for increased funding at Metro.

But Jordan doesn’t plan to stop there — he’s taking his call to action to the media and will be presenting the data to the editorial board of the Denver Post, aiming to spread the word about the inequity of fund dispersion at colleges in the state.

These efforts, while they will not help offset the current round of budget cuts, could put the college in a position to offset other effects of the decrease in funds.

Jordan outlined the $7 million the college has saved through cost-containing measures that were first instituted in September. $2.9 million will be given back to the state and the remaining $4 million will be rolled into next year’s budget to help bridge the anticipated $5 million in reductions for next year.

Each of the administrative departments set target amounts that they could save while still serving students — targets that were met, and in some cases exceeded, giving the college some breathing room.

The school has also developed a 3-tier approach to the cuts that loom from next year’s budget, which will be presented to the Metro Board of Trustees for approval their April 2 meeting.
“All this does is gets us back to a new general fund base. So this effort that we’re going through to get ready to present this material to the April meeting of the board is to create the general fund base from which we will then look at how much more are we going to raise tuition and how will we use the new revenue that we gain from tuition to invest in order to invest in the things we intend to do for the college,” Jordan said.

Metro students will likely see a hike in tuition rates for the next few years, but Jordan has a plan to try to ease the pain of these increases.

In addition to asking the commission on higher education to commit fair and equal funding, he is also supporting a move that would give the governing boards of colleges more flexibility in determining tuition rates.

“We’re not looking to have carte blanche authority over tuition with this proposal,” he said of a bill to be introduced to the legislature next month that aims to build a 5-year proposal of tuition increases that will be built into the schools performance contracts.

“At least this would be a way for our students and families to plan over their students career what tuition would look like,” he said.

Currently, tuition increases are not finalized until June, after students have left for the summer, leaving them to come back a few months later to higher bills.

Another concern Jordan highlighted that stems from the fluctuating budgets is the possibility of capping, or limiting, enrollment.

“We are researching, and let me emphasize the word researching, the feasibility of limiting or capping enrollment if we do not receive the additional funding for the increased numbers of students,” Jordan said.

Metro is an open enrollment school, meaning anyone 20 years or older who has graduated from high school or has a GED must be admitted.

While administrators are still formulating plans for possibly capping enrollment and further budget cuts that may arise once the budget is finalized in the coming months, Jordan is sure that Metro will emerge better than before.

“There is not question that we’re going to be in for a tough couple of years. Having said that, I want to assure you that I m absolutely confident that we will come out of this stronger, better academically and more committed to our mission.”