Our Say: State's public colleges facing big challenges
The Editorial Staff
Copied with permission of The Capital
IF THE long-term problems facing state higher education could be solved with
a little belt-tightening, University System of Maryland Chancellor William
E. Kirwan would have every reason for optimism right now.
The regents have just approved a plan for administrative and academic
changes designed to save more than $26 million. These changes include
increasing professors' workloads by 10 percent and capping the credit hours
needed to graduate in most majors at 120 - to move students through the
system more quickly. This effort earned an approving nod from Gov. Robert
Ehrlich in his State of the State speech, in which he announced a $67
million increase in state funding for higher education.
But Mr. Kirwan, meeting with our editorial board last week, forecast a storm
on the horizon. He warns that the coming years will bring huge challenges
for the university system.
For one thing, the demand for higher education will be going up
dramatically. A college diploma has already become the equivalent of a high
school diploma of decades ago - the minimum requirement for most well-paid
professional positions. The number of would-be students will climb as more
of the "baby boom echo" generation reaches college age. Mr. Kirwan says his
system is facing an influx of up to 30,000 additional students by 2010.
Many of these students will be from low-income backgrounds and will find
themselves facing a difficult climate in their college years. For even as
the federal government reduces its commitment to college aid and research
funding, the state is carrying less of the financial load of higher
education. So, of course, tuitions are soaring.
Meanwhile, the crowded schools have gotten more selective academically.
Parents who went to a University of Maryland campus are often stunned to
realize that their children, even with better grades than they had, are
unlikely to get in.
As the state's public colleges become de facto private colleges that happen
to get a state subsidy, a vicious circle takes shape. If taxpayers can't get
their kids into a University of Maryland campus _ or find that getting them
there means exorbitant tuitions - why should they insist that their
legislators appropriate more money for these schools? After all, what are
they getting out of them? And as state support declines, tuitions go yet
higher and enrollments lag further behind demand.
Mr. Kirwan is right when he points to American higher education as one of
the keys to this country's success, just as the public university system he
heads is vital to this state's economy. That's why its long-term health is
crucial.
The university system, under Mr. Kirwan, has shown that it is willing to
look for ways to economize. It's willing to look to the future by stressing
programs like online education. But it can't handle the coming enrollment
surge just by belt-tightening. It will need attention and support from state
officials.
Published 02/27/05, Copyright © 2005 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.