RALEIGH (November 10, 2016) – The Higher Education Works Foundation extends its congratulations to the winners in Tuesday’s election.
Now it’s time to get to work.
As they prepare to take office, we hope our newly elected officials will keep in mind the goals we share with the new leaders of our University and Community College systems in North Carolina.
In her inaugural address just last month, University of North Carolina System President Margaret Spellings called on North Carolina to redefine “all useful learning” for a new era – to make some form of higher education our higher expectation for all.
“The best jobs of the future demand education beyond high school,” said Spellings, who is responsible for 225,000 students at 17 campuses that stretch across the state.
But, noting the state constitution’s mandate to make higher education as free as possible, Spellings said we must make it available to more students.
“We have one of the finest university systems in the nation, but we also have too many citizens whose lives and ambitions are limited by geography, by income, by struggling K-12 schools, or by tuition that seems out of reach. We are leaving behind thousands of capable students who never even apply to college because it doesn’t seem possible for them. That’s a tragic waste of talent, and we must do something about that.
“It’s time to raise our expectations once again. Higher education is the next frontier — a new civil right. Every child must be able to reach beyond high school — that has to become our expectation, our promise for a rising generation. That may mean a four-year degree, a master’s or a doctorate; it could mean an associate degree or a professional credential.”1
In part, that means North Carolina must:
- Provide funds for growing enrollment at our public universities and community colleges. We’re now the 9th-largest state in the nation – demand for higher education is not shrinking.
- Keep the promise to replace lost tuition revenue at three universities – Western Carolina, UNC Pembroke and Elizabeth City State – that will begin charging in-state undergraduates $500 a semester for tuition in 2018. It’s a worthy step toward fulfilling the state constitution’s mandate. But replacement funds are essential; they should be new funds, and not simply redirected from another part of the university budget.
- Provide adequate financial aid. We are in an era of rising tuition, yet state funds for need-based aid have remained flat for four years. If institutions raise tuition without providing corresponding increases in aid, we shut the door to low-income students – and increasingly to students from middle-income households as well.2
- Reward the people who teach our children. Faculty at most of our public universities are paid well below what their colleagues at peer institutions make – that can’t continue without a serious loss of talent at the core of preparing a 21st century workforce. The folks who teach our students deserve meaningful raises even in non-election years.
- Resist further cuts. Our public universities have suffered nearly $800 million in budget cuts since the start of the Great Recession in 2008. If the state has another budget surplus at the end of 2016-17, there’s no need for more arbitrary cuts.
- Address an ever-growing maintenance backlog. The UNC system accounts for half of state buildings. Voters approved bonds in March to provide $45 million for repairs and renovations, but that doesn’t come close to fully addressing an estimated $2 billion backlog in maintenance of university buildings.
1 http://www.higheredworks.org/2016/10/spellings-inauguration/.
2 http://www.higheredworks.org/2015/08/bowles-aid-is-key-to-college-access-economic-mobility/.
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