When Michael Crow became president of Arizona State University, he brought with him a lofty long-term vision, catchy buzz-phrases like “New American University,” and the promise of access, achievement and progress.
It’s hard to believe it’s already been a full 10 years since Crow left Columbia University for the Valley; the ASU community and campus persona of yesteryear is hardly recognizable – and mostly for the better.
What’s even harder to believe, however: Despite record enrollment numbers (access), rocketing program and overall university rankings (achievement), and the development of an ASU brand that transcends Tempe, Mesa, Downtown Phoenix and all of Arizona (progress), the system the state uses to determine how it funds its three public universities has stayed virtually intact for decades. It was created eons before Crow saw something special in a then-middling desert institution, and the last adjustment of any kind came before the concept of a “Y2K” crash even entered our lexicon.
That all may change — and soon — if the Arizona Senate, House, and Gov. Jan Brewer see fit to bridge the per-student funding gap that currently exists between ASU, the University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University.
Under the current model, the state directs $838 more per year for a student to attend the UA than it does for those to attend ASU (and $729 more in comparison to NAU).
Crow and ASU leadership are right: The model is broken, and the only way to fix it is to level it out. What’s more, UA and NAU are on board too, to one degree or another. All three are in support of HB 2090, which made it through a Senate panel March 8 and now must be approved on the Senate floor, in the House, and then pass Gov. Brewer’s desk.
The change would allocate an additional $12 million to ASU and an extra $3.3 million to NAU over the next five years, in addition to the standard all three will receive, as yet to be determined by lawmakers.
Crow attests that it would take about $120 million to ultimately fix the irregularity, caused in concept more than half a century ago when ASU’s initial purview as a teacher’s college demanded less funding than the UA, a land grant university. The Arizona Board of Regents, which manages the Arizona university system, still sees the disproportion closer to half that number because of “special responsibilities” at the UA, including its medical school and agricultural offerings.
In any case, the $15.3 million is a start — and a necessary one.
Crow’s vision for ASU — which for the East Valley includes further development of both the Tempe and Mesa Polytechnic campuses — centers on a desire for a performance-based funding model in Arizona. Each university would receive a base, with graduation rates and other metrics determining the end amount allotted by legislators and the governor.
The only way to create the performance-based model is to start on the same plateau.
Some — Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, for one — have questioned the timing of the proposal. “We don’t have the $15.3 million,” he said recently.
But after years of cutbacks — and years of financial decisions that have ignored the plausibility of long-term academic growth — legislators, this time, need to find the money.
It should be made clear: While HB 2090, as written does mean the UA will not receive an increase (but doesn’t necessarily lose out either), the argument to bridge the funding gap is not a potshot at quality of opportunities offered through the UA, nor NAU.
Arizona’s three-headed public university system may, on the surface, seem limited compared to the multi-campus behemoths of the University of California or California State systems, or even those in Oregon, New Mexico or Texas.
But the setup, as Crow intimates, actually serves the personality of our state — and the individuality of three of its core communities — well.
All three universities need the opportunity to look ahead, and ASU’s transformation under Crow over the last decade is the linchpin for a new system to do so.
In_God_We_Trust posted at 11:44 am on Sun, Apr 1, 2012.
It's time for students to start paying a fairing share of the costs and stop relying on taxpayers to pay of their education.
TolkienBard posted at 3:04 pm on Sun, Apr 1, 2012.
I love how so many people seem to think that there are a ton of students doing nothing but leeching off the tax payers while going to parties or whatever. As an undergraduate student, I will owe approximately $90-95k by the time I graduate with my BA. Then I get to figure out how to pay for graduate school so that I can actually make myself marketable enough to land a job where I can actually have some hope of paying off my student debt in about 20-30 years.
It's not just relying on the taxpayers. It's also about relying on the system to make the fairest and best use of the tax money it does receive.
In_God_We_Trust posted at 7:18 pm on Sun, Apr 1, 2012.
48 percent of undergraduate ASU students paid nothing toward tuition in the 2009-10 academic year. Now I don't know what your definition of a ton of students is, but I'd say that is a sizable amount of leeches. That is the amount of students who paid absolutely nothing toward their education. I'm sure there are many more who paid small percentages also.
Irons1 posted at 9:23 pm on Sun, Apr 1, 2012.
In God, sources please and I'll bet you don't have any
Outside In posted at 7:40 am on Mon, Apr 2, 2012.
Arizona taxpayers currently spend about $5.5 million per day on community colleges and universities. Add to that the endowments, the federal and the student payments. Over the last 5 years, only fuel prices have risen faster than the cost of a degree. TolkienBard (see comment above) owes nearly $100,000 in education costs. That is crazy. What value must that degree return to have such extraordinary cost make sense? The legislature needs to order a full accounting of current expenditures at every level before offering another penny. Not a dog-and-pony show from Crow, an audit by a legitimate CPA. I'm convinced the greed and sheer incompetence would astound!
davidflucier posted at 7:26 am on Tue, Apr 3, 2012.
In_God_We_Trust....what part of "public education" don't you understand?
As Americans, we have always invested in our future generations...at least until recently in Arizona when suddenly the whole idea of public is coming under attack by the Tea Party, Christian fundamentalists and by the otherwise shortsighted and the ignorant.
The Arizona legislature has continually cut funding for education by cutting revenues and then blaming the revenue shortfalls on overspending.
The Arizona legislature now spends more on state prisons than on the state universities. The cuts are having a devestating impact on our university system.
The Arizona legislature has been bellyaching for years about performance based funding and now they have a formula and a plan to do just that, they respond by criticizing and stalling on the vary plan they asked for.
Without investment in higher education, Arizona will continue to wallow in an economic mud pit where almost 20% of its population lives at or below the Federal poverty level.
The New American University model at ASU as outlined by Dr. Crow is an example of educational innovation, creativity and success...in spite of the Arizona Legislature and it's efforts to defund the most important investment that Arizona should be making.
In_God_We_Trust posted at 10:10 am on Wed, Apr 4, 2012.
http://www.statepress.com/2012/02/22/hb-2675-passes-committee-despite-strong-opposition/
You lose the bet Irons1. There are many more if you bother to check for yourself.
No one is saying we shouldn't invest in education. But some of these freeloaders need to be helping to pay some of the costs too. Also I think many of today's college student have to start out at the high school remedial level due to the failed education system at lower levels. K-12 needs a major overhaul that doesn't require a ton of extra money to pay for so that when they reach the college level they are prepared for college level classes.
In_God_We_Trust posted at 10:13 am on Wed, Apr 4, 2012.
asuaguila, I am a college educated professional, retired, and living very comfortable with a very nice pension and social security benefits. Thank you for asking.
VofReason posted at 1:23 pm on Mon, Apr 9, 2012.
Outside In hit it on the nose. Why when it comes to Education we are supposed to just believe that whatever it is or was, it just isn't enough. Does anyone believe that anything that the Government funds is not rife with fruad, waste and inefficiency? Why would we think public colleges are any different. Or did I just let out of the bag that Government is rife with fruad, waste and inefficiency? We are all starting from that assumption- no?
VofReason posted at 1:27 pm on Mon, Apr 9, 2012.
Oh, In God we trust sound like he has it too. Don't figure you will get welcomed to the "club" by Dale spinning that kin of logic though. Yes, the Education system is a house of cards. Why don't we here of Japan's incessent drive for more money into a failed education system. Oh, maybe they figured it out long time ago. If parents don't care, all spending after that don't make a lick. That doesn't get many votes though
Engaged Voter posted at 2:42 pm on Thu, Jun 7, 2012.
"As an undergraduate student, I will owe approximately $90-95k by the time I graduate with my BA."
Why so much? You ARE working a job while taking classes, right.
Start paying off your loan while you are still in school. I did, and was loan debt-free less than a year after I graduated.
And if you are NOT a working student, SHAME ON YOU.