$700 Million Urged for State Schools

Report Suggests Ways to Make Institutions More Competitive

Maryland should invest an additional $700 million in public higher education over the next decade to make college more affordable and the state more competitive, according to a 10-year plan released yesterday by a state commission.

Launched after rapid spikes in tuition several years ago, the commission designed a framework to stabilize and increase funding for colleges and suggested that the governor and General Assembly consider the kind of mandated spending that primary and secondary schools have in the state.

Proponents said yesterday that full funding of the plan would be impossible in the current economy.

"No, it won't be adopted next year," said state Sen. Jim Rosapepe (D-Prince George's), a former regent for the University System of Maryland. "But it can, and should, be adopted over the next several years."

The Commission to Develop the Maryland Model for Funding Higher Education, which studied the issue for two years, said that "the overall rankings of Maryland institutions cannot be considered acceptable in the knowledge and global economy in which Maryland now finds itself competing for jobs and standard of living."

Given the "seismic change" in the financial environment, as manufacturing jobs dwindle and careers that require a college degree drive the economy, educating more students is not only a laudable goal but an economic necessity, the report says. Maryland ranks 21st in state higher education spending per capita.

But funding for higher education is likely to get worse before it gets better. University of Maryland officials said they are bracing for a possible end to their 3-year-old tuition freeze. John Blair, budget director for the University of Maryland in College Park, said a preliminary budget for 2009-10 includes a 4 percent increase in tuition.

It is too soon to determine whether there will be a tuition increase, said William Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland.

"Obviously, things are different now," Kirwan said. "We can't expect the same level of support in the coming year. But I do think there's a commitment in our state to . . . keeping college very affordable and any tuition increases as modest as possible."

Kirwan spoke yesterday on Capitol Hill about a report released yesterday by the College Board that echoes some of the Maryland commission's conclusions: In an increasingly knowledge-based economy, the United States is falling behind other countries in higher education, by many measures. The country ranks 23rd in high school completion rates and 10th in college completion rates, and it has the highest college dropout rate of any industrialized country.

In its report, the Maryland commission included three major goals designed to help the state compete for new business and jobs with nearby states. Funding for public four-year universities in Maryland would be set at the 75th percentile of funding for similar institutions in those states and at the 80th percentile for historically black institutions. Tuition would be set at or below the 50th percentile of tuition rates in those states, and financial aid would increase to the 75th percentile.

The commission also recommends changes that could be made without an infusion of cash, such as ensuring that high school college-prep classes are better aligned with the expectations that university professors have for entering students. It calls for increased accountability of higher education performance and more predictable tuition rates so families can plan how to pay.

The recommendations will go to the governor, Senate president and House speaker, with the hopes of delivering a bill to the General Assembly.

Staff writer John Wagner contributed to this report.