Ehrlich Gives Public Colleges a Lift

Private Schools Are Allotted Less Than State Formula Suggests

Chip DiPaula Jr., Ehrlich's budget secretary, said the state's chronic budget shortfalls in recent years have forced leaders to "focus on its core missions and responsibilities." (Marvin Joseph -- The Washington Post)

Maryland's public colleges and universities received a boost from Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s budget this week, in the form of a $43 million funding increase that school system leaders say should help rein in soaring tuition costs.

But for the 17 private colleges that receive state dollars, the governor's spending plan represents the fourth straight year that the state has provided significantly less money than recommended by a state formula -- funds that advocates say are vital to the overall well-being of the state's higher education.

The disparity between public and private institutions has opened debate about whether Maryland's decades-long commitment to funding the entire spectrum of higher education institutions is wavering.

"It's hard for us to say that we see a big increase in higher education funding," said Tina M. Bjarekull, president of the Maryland Independent College and University Association. "While we're very happy that the governor funded the [public] university system and the community colleges generously, our biggest disappointment was that the independent institutions are not being funded in a commensurate way."

Chip DiPaula Jr., Ehrlich's budget secretary, said the state's chronic budget shortfalls in recent years have forced leaders to "focus on its core missions and responsibilities."

"The state has a unique obligation to the public colleges and the community colleges," he said.

Ehrlich's budget for fiscal 2006, released Wednesday, allots $36 million for private and independent schools -- $10.1 million less than recommended by a state funding formula. And while the money is a 2 percent increase from the current budget, the less-than-anticipated funding widens the gap between state financing for public and private institutions.

Public colleges and universities under Ehrlich's plan would receive about $800 million, a 5.7 percent increase, and community colleges would get $192 million, a 4.6 percent increase over the past year.

Community colleges and private schools receive state money according to formulas that tie their allotments to that given the public colleges. The formula for private institutions has been in place since 1973, part of a commitment to the idea that higher education, whether public or private, benefits the state economically and socially.

In tough economic times, the General Assembly's constitutional mandate to balance the state budget has superseded these aid formulas, and both community colleges and private institutions have on several occasions received less than the prescribed amount.

Bjarekull said that the four straight years of below-recommended funding for private institutions is unprecedented. The schools -- including Johns Hopkins University, Loyola College in Maryland, St. John's College and Sojourner-Douglass College -- have received a smaller cut than recommended every budget cycle since fiscal 2003, approved just before Ehrlich (R) was elected.

"When [the General Assembly] set these formulas, we said all of higher education should rise together," said Sen. P.J. Hogan (D-Montgomery), vice chairman of the Budget and Taxation Committee. "So it's unfortunate the governor picks and chooses."

The General Assembly has some power to alter the share of money that goes to private schools and last year allotted less money for private schools than Ehrlich recommended in his budget.

This year's private school allotment "is a recommended level of funding for the General Assembly, and they are free to fund [private schools] at whatever level they choose," DiPaula said.

The state's public universities have not been spared from budget woes.

After several years of steep cuts in state aid -- including a decline from $868 million to $746 million in 2003 -- the University of Maryland Board of Regents has in recent years approved tuition shifts that raised the cost of education over the past year by as much as 21 percent at some of the system's 13 campuses.

Ehrlich last year vetoed a bill that would have capped tuition increases and raised corporate taxes temporarily to provide an infusion of cash for the system. This month, days before the General Assembly prepared to vote on an override of Ehrlich's veto, the governor announced he would increase funding for public universities and colleges by $43 million. The announcement helped stave off an override vote, and University of Maryland system leaders hailed the governor for the funding increase.

Now the concern is whether the money will continue to come, said Joseph F. Vivona, the University of Maryland system's vice chancellor for administration and finance.

"The big breakthrough [in the budget] is recognizing higher education as a state priority and beginning the reinvestment process," he said.