What's at stake?
-- More on TABOR’s impacts in
Colorado
The decline in funding per resident student
has affected all schools in the state higher education system.
Funding declines have ranged from 41 percent at the University
of Colorado system to 21 percent at the community college
system.
As a result, tuitions have risen. In the last
four years, system-wide resident tuition increased by 21 percent
after adjustment for inflation.
At certain schools, however, tuition increases
were much greater: 31 percent for residents in the University
of Colorado system, 32 percent for residents at Fort Lewis
College, and 30 percent for residents at the Colorado School
of Mines.
Even after these tuition hikes, higher education
funding has still decreased in recent years. Total funding
per full-time resident student -- the combination of General
Fund appropriations and tuition -- declined by 13 percent
between FY 2002 and FY 2005.
Faced with steadily decreasing funding, higher
education institutions have been forced to take a series of
painful steps. For example, University of Colorado (CU) has
laid off 286 faculty and staff and eliminated six academic
programs over the past three years.
Construction funding has been cut by $121 million
for projects currently underway at CU, even though CU was
already facing a $400 million maintenance backlog.
At Colorado State University (CSU), 54 faculty
were lost last year to budget cuts. Since 1990, a total of
80 faculty positions have gone unfilled, even as enrollment
has grown 20 percent. Also, CSU reported losing 32 tenured
faculty in 2002 because it could not match offers from other
colleges.
CU lost 16 tenured professors in 2004, twice
the usual number, because they were recruited by colleges
offering higher salaries.
Click on the graph to view a larger version
What's At
Stake:
Senior citizens
Public
health and safety
Local
communities
Jobs and economic
development
K-12 schools
Higher
education
Montana's
most vulnerable citizens
Agriculture |
