PROTECTING public higher education in Virginia is a team effort. With a reputation as one of the nation's strongest public university systems to preserve, much is at stake in the coming years as state budget cuts promise tuition increases, pressures to reduce programs for students and increase tuition costs. The trend is especially troubling considering the projected 32,000 additional college-age students in the Commonwealth who will be coming down the pipeline within the next decade. With these cuts, the questions of where they will go and what kind of effect will be had upon the already stressed public four-year college system should evoke real concern in those who treasure the value of their degree from the University or one of her peers in the Commonwealth.
Thankfully, this week, Old Dominion University President Roseann Runte made a statement that should induce a sigh of relief from administrators at Virginia's other public institutions. She offered a take-it-or-leave-it deal to the Commonwealth: Give ODU $20 million more, and it will take in an extra 10,000 students before the end of the decade. The plan would rely heavily on summer school and distance learning but would expand the overall size of the institution by 50 percent, from 20,000 to 30,000 students, outpacing Virginia Tech as the largest university in the Commonwealth. According to Runte, that kind of growth would cost $75 million, but ODU has constructed a means to do it at just over a quarter of that price.
This plan to educate more students in the Commonwealth will not only benefit ODU, but will relieve pressure from other institutions, especially schools that prefer smaller classes, such as the University and William and Mary. By ensuring the increased competitiveness of peer institutions such as Virginia Tech, George Mason, James Madison and Old Dominion, more students who might otherwise have applied to the University of Virginia demanding a top-rate public education now have an attractive alternative. This allows the University and other peer institutions to avoid capital-intense expenditures associated with expanding student capacity, the assistance of which the Commonwealth had traditionally been slow in offering.
Additionally, should the Commonwealth strike such a deal with ODU, it would mark a striking commitment by the Commonwealth to look forward to the needs of college-aged Virginians and make a progressive effort to support those needs with state backing. This is a commitment that has been lacking over the past decade, as the Commonwealth's financial commitment to public institutions has dropped precipitously ever since the early 1990s. These are students who would be forced to turn to the community college system or find a higher education outside the Commonwealth. By accepting more Virginians into the public education system, the Commonwealth will simultaneously boost Virginia's economic potential by maintaining a strong, well-educated workforce and by creating more jobs in the field of education.
However, while the benefits to the Commonwealth are many, it is unlikely that the money exists in the treasury to support ODU's proposal. Runte said that ODU will not embark on the expansion without the money. Since 2001, the state has cut the budget of ODU and most other colleges by more than 20 percent. This poses a real problem. State legislators must see the inherent deal for Virginia by agreeing to the ODU proposition. For the relatively low cost of several million dollars (the University's annual operating budget is over a billion) the Commonwealth can begin to plan to accommodate the thousands of students who will be clamoring for a public education from a four-year college in Virginia within the next decade.
If the General Assembly wishes to defend the priority of quality and abundant access to higher education in the Commonwealth, financial arrangements must be made to accommodate the ODU proposal.
With rising tuition rates and abundant budget cuts by administrations, the Commonwealth must make a strong statement of its commitment to quality public higher education in Virginia. This began with the passage of the General Obligation Bond of 2002. However, the work is far from done. Should the General Assembly wish to preserve a system of education that supports a strong, capable, and well educated work force, measures such as the proposal at Old Dominion must be pursued with vigor. As President Runte stated on Monday, "This is probably the most reasonably priced alternative [to expensive institutional expansion] that they [the General Assembly] can find. I think they should be interested." The rest of the higher education community should be interested too, as should ever student who values the prestige of a Virginia degree.
(Preston Lloyd's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at plloyd@cavalierdaily.com.)
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