The case for CU going independent grows. Funding now at less then 5%. Worst in Nation

[sackman]

Even when the economy does improve, because of the clusterfuk of Amd 23/TABOR, higher education will always get the short end of the stick in this state.

Bottom line for me is that I don't think this is a temporary problem. It could be that CU manages to find alternative funding sources that make the lack of funds from the state irrelevant. If that be the case, and they can figure out a way to divorce themselves from the political process, then it's the perfect situation. All the priveleges of state ownership without the nasty interference of state politics.

 

[Darth Snow]

5% people. Worst in the ****ing nation. And as Sacky noted, this situation is NOT about to change for the better. Something creative needs to happen here, or CU will not keep up with the UT's of the world.

 

[Hugegroove]

5% people. Worst in the ****ing nation. And as sacky noted, this situation is not about to change for the better. Something creative needs to happen here, or cu will not keep up with the ut's of the world.

gulp!!!

 

[77buff]

Just received this email from the UCSU today.



Yikes.

A very large % of our students are from out of state and pay out of state tuition costs. When I attended CU all of my friends were from California, New York and other states. Where do all those additional fees go?

 

[Deleted member 807]

I'd like to know where CU gets it's funding.

State = 5%. Trend - decline
Instate tuition. Trend - flat, capped by state
OOS tuition. Increasing - enrollment capped by state
Private & Gov't Grants. Key focus area to grow
Alumni gifts/foundation. Key focus area to grow
Other revenue. ???


To play this out, CUB's path involves becoming an ever bigger research enterprise. The graduate programs become more and more important. This means undergraduate programs are less and less relevant.

Thus CU will be content to let the local community and junior colleges take the under classmen. CU grows the graduate programs and actively seeks high revenue OOS underclassmen.

Given this hand to play, Benson has reason to turn his nose down on the undergraduate experience. Let it become edu-tainment, where CU provides "a lifestyle and a degree". But why sink money into a group where 1:3 drop out, come with state mandated tuition and OOS enrollment caps, and don't bring in large grants? Let DeVry or Front Range CC or Metro State get the kids fresh out of highschool who are prone to drop out. Then CU grabs them when they are mature juniors and seniors with good GPAs and are on a trajectory towards grad school. As it is, the voters of Colorado have spoken, and they don't support higher ed. This puts CU in a position where the students that seek are those who can add value to the classrooms of research professors. It's really no wonder CU has focused on the Medical Center because state control over the undergraduate system is a disaster.

Using this line of thinking, the CU football team is merely a vestage of everything wrong with the state's indifference to higher ed. If it fails, then it's merely collateral damage that is a consequence of the priorities of Colorado tax payers.

 

[BlackNGold]

I will take the counter point of view. Colleges and Universities have had their costs rise at twice the rate of inflation. While enrollment has increased 40% over the last two decades support staff has doubled and faculty and administrative staffs have risen over 50%. Tuition costs have been rising much faster than inflation. Public Universities going private would have to relearn how to compete. Regis and DU have huge continuing education programs they have built over the years and they also offer programs for adult students, these are great sources of revenues for them. I know people that have driven from Durango every weekend to work on a graduate degree at DU. CU faculty would have to learn to compete with that - weekend and evening classes.

Things are tight and a lot of people are reducing cost unfortunately CU is going to have to do that also. It is unfair to say the people of Colorado don't care about higher education. The people of Colorado are not among the lowest taxed in the country - we have income, property and sales taxes. A better question would be where does the tax money go? The Colorado government is one of the least transparent operations around.

If CU would go private (do not see it happening) it would only be the Boulder Campus.

 

[Deleted member 807]

BnG's post reminds me of that 20-something discussion about why people in Colorado do support higher ed.

In Los Angeles, everyone is an actor. They just happen to wait tables to make ends meet. Being in the entertainment business simply justifies having anotherwise crappy job in California..

On the front range, everyone is a student. They just happen to wait tables while working on that degree. Taking classes is a way to justify living near the mountains while projecting ambitions beyond working in an hourly rate service job.