Colorado’s colleges and universities have agreed to split up next year’s state funding in the same proportion that they did this year, hoping to avoid a contentious fight in the legislature.
The agreement allows state schools to make a united recommendation to lawmakers who dole out the cash.
“Historically, if you have higher ed arguing (among schools) … for how much money they get, the legislature throws up their hands and typically you get less money,” said Nancy McCallin, president of the Community College System, which would probably see a $10.4 million increase next year under the deal.
School officials expect the legislature to give them a smaller increase next year than they received this year.
And several schools say they expect tuition increases.
The Colorado Commission on Higher Education requested a $113 million increase for all schools next year. But lawmakers are now talking about increasing state funding next fiscal year by about just $50 million to avoid exceeding the state’s spending limit, said Gov. Bill Ritter’s spokesman, Evan Dreyer.
Higher education officials said schools agreed to accept new state money next year in essentially the same proportions as this year.
For the University of Colorado, that would amount to about $15 million more, said president Hank Brown.
The deal’s main variable is the passage of Senate Bill 97, which would redirect an estimated $11 million of the annual tobacco payments next year to CU’s Health Sciences Center, Brown said.
If the bill fails, CU will want additional money for Health Sciences.
CU could get an additional $5 million to pay for the cost of admitting students when the state was cutting funding from 2002 to 2005, Brown said.
The agreement also is political because it gives all of higher education a stake in the legislation’s passage.
If it doesn’t become law, CU, the state’s flagship, could scoop up a bigger portion of the proposed $50 million increase.
Students may also be expected to pay more.
Bill Mansheim, vice president of finance and administration at Adams State College, said the school would probably see a $1 million increase.
But administrators probably will have to raise tuition between 5 percent and 10 percent, he said.
“The state did step up for a portion of that, but some of that is going to have to be shouldered by the students to get us caught up on the cuts,” Mansheim said.
CCHE executive director David Skaggs declined to talk about the deal.
Officials largely agree that the deal isn’t perfect but it allows them to begin focusing on a long-term funding plan.
“The challenge is that we must, in Colorado, address real costs of higher education,” said Larry Penley, the president at Colorado State University. “That’s going to take a thorough examination of what those costs are, and it’s going to take a degree of discussion among everybody.”
Under the recommendation, CSU would see $10.3 million more next year.
Staff writer Chris Frates can be reached at 303-954-1633 or cfrates@denverpost.com.
