States like West Virginia need to invest more money into higher education - not cut it - to reverse the damage caused by years of funding cuts following the 2008 recession, a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released Thursday concludes.
The annual report, which analyzed nationwide budgets for higher education that have already been approved by state legislatures for the next financial year, came as lawmakers looked to the Higher Education Policy Commission for any signs public colleges in the state could further reduce their budgets.
"Our colleges and universities have gone really far to tighten their belts while still providing the education their students deserved and are paying for," said Jessica Tice, a spokeswoman for HEPC.
One of the main points of the report is the possible, if not already present, lapse in the quality of the college experience as a result of faculty positions being cut. Tice doesn't think that problem has touched West Virginia yet, but she fears the state is at a tipping point.
Under Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's proposed budget, higher education would retain the 4 percent budget cut enacted for all state agencies in October. HEPC and colleges have planned to keep this reduction, Tice said, but HEPC Chancellor Paul Hill told the Senate finance committee Thursday that if there were any cuts beyond that, there could be layoffs across the state.
Hill submitted a letter to the Senate finance committee and the Department of Revenue earlier this year which estimated that if higher education had to undergo a 6.5 percent budget cut, 350 jobs would be lost across the state, including classified, non-classified and faculty positions.
West Virginia is one of just five states that cut more than $250 of higher education funding per student over the past year, according to the report.
"As states have slashed higher education funding, the price of attending public colleges has risen significantly faster than the growth in median income," the report reads. "For the average student, increases in federal student aid and the availability of tax credits have not kept up, jeopardizing the ability of many to afford the college education that is key to their long-term financial success."
Since the 2007-08 school year, the average tuition at the state's four-year, public colleges has risen by $2,135, or more than 40 percent, according to a news release from the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, a left-leaning think tank.
For comparison, U.S. Census data shows that median household income has risen about 7 percent during that same time, from $38,387 to $41,059. This means for families with children going to college, a greater portion of their income has to go toward paying for school than there was before.
"Families have no way of keeping up with the increase of tuitions," said Linda Frame, communications manager for the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.
College administrators and the families of high school seniors have worried about what cuts to higher education might mean for the upcoming school year. High school guidance counselors were left confused after HEPC sent them letters with a warning not to tell students that they have been awarded the Promise scholarship since funding for it hasn't been appropriated yet.
House Speaker Tim Armstead has said he is committed to keeping the scholarship around and representatives from HEPC, too, are confident the program won't be cut.
"At the very least," the report reads, "states must avoid shortsighted tax cuts that would make it much harder for them to invest in higher education, strengthen the skills of their workforce, and compete for - or even create - the jobs of the future."
While the future of higher education sits in the dark for now, HEPC has at least one reason to celebrate.
HEPC will do just about anything to get high school seniors to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as FAFSA, which is an application the federal government requires every student to submit before receiving any federal financial aid.
Counselors show up to high schools across the state to help coach students through the application process, and if they opt into a new statewide program, they'll even send them a text message, reminding them to complete it.
"We've seen from the research nationally that [FAFSA completion] is a really good benchmark for getting more students into college," said Jessica Kennedy, a spokeswoman for the HEPC and its sister organization, the Community and Technical College System. "Cost and affordability is always a concern for students, and we don't think students always realize how much funding they can get from the federal government."
A news release from the National College Access Network last week reports West Virginia was one of only four states, including Oregon, Utah and Mississippi, to increase the number of students in the state who completed the FAFSA. There was a 5.2 percent increase in the number of FAFSA submissions from last year, with about half as many student actually completing the process.
Kennedy credits the text message program, created three years ago for select high schools and extended across the state this year, as the reason behind the rise in FAFSA completions.
Reach Jake Jarvis at jake.jarvis@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-7939 or follow @NewsroomJake on Twitter.