Stephen Jordan, president of Metropolitan State College of Denver, wonders why his is the only four-year state institution that gets less general fund money for a full-time student than the community colleges do.
Since the 2000-2001 fiscal year, the last one before state revenues plunged, the relative position of state institutions has changed. Four state colleges - Fort Lewis, Mesa, Western and Adams - have higher appropriations for 2006-2007 than six years earlier, largely because of legislative decisions made when Metro left the state college system. All the other state colleges and universities receive less in actual dollars.
Does it make sense for Western and Adams to get more funding per student than the University of Colorado and Colorado State University systems? And more than twice as much as Metro?
Jordan believes the state should distribute funding equitably to institutions with similar missions, and we tend to agree.
Metro, which at 21,000 students is the second-largest four-year institution in Colorado, is a crucial part of the state's system of higher education. Since it largely draws from the 7-county metropolitan area, 24 percent of its students are ethnic minorities. More than 40 percent of its students are 25 or older, many are low income or in the first generation to attend college. If Metro weren't there for them, the first rung on the academic ladder would be out of their reach.
"We're paying for a system that results in dramatic failure for students who have the potential to succeed, with the right support," Jordan said, "but we can't do it with the resources we have."
Of course, just about everyone in higher education has a sad tale to tell. Even after the passage of Referendum C, we can predict there won't be enough money to go around, but the state should move in the direction of greater equity.
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