If Colorado voters turn down Referendum C, the impact on the state’s colleges and universities will be fast and furious. Tuitions are sure to skyrocket, forcing some schools to contemplate privatizing while others slash programs and staff.
Those are not just empty threats from proponents of the ballot measure to allow the state to spend more of the money it collects. If C doesn’t pass, the state will be forced to cut another $400 million from its budget next year, and college administrators can sense that they will bear the brunt.
Yet a bleak future for higher ed is still a hard sell on the campaign trail. There are thousands of Coloradans who, when they hear the words “higher education,” immediately think of Ward Churchill, athletic sex scandals and binge drinking. Why not cut higher ed, they might ask.
Colorado State University president Larry Penley has a good answer. Referendum C is not about CSU, he’ll tell you, but about Colorado. With a dismantled CSU, or University of Colorado, we would be left with a state where few of us would want to live.
Colorado needs a healthy, vibrant higher education system for many reasons. Families need access to affordable schools so they can dream a little bigger. It’s already difficult for many in Colorado’s growing Hispanic population to afford four-year schools. Tuition that doubles over the next three years, a real possibility, will only further deflate those dreams.
Higher education is about creating a more educated workforce to fill 21st century jobs and compete in a global economy. Would businesses want to locate or operate in Colorado if they’re not guaranteed an educated workforce, community amenities and a strong transportation network (which requires approval of Referendum D)?
Not only do CSU, CU and other schools provide an advanced labor supply for Colorado, jobs also are created through the ideas generated at the schools. Some of the most important research in the country is happening in labs, classrooms and farms across Colorado. Highly sought-after professors, who attract millions in research grants, won’t be willing to stay in a state that doesn’t value higher education.
Penley, in just a few words, offers an impassioned and reasoned plea for passing the two referendums. Proponents of the measures would be wise to get him out on the stump more often alongside CU President Hank Brown, who brings a record of fiscal discipline and Republican bona fides to the effort.
