SALEM — Legislators pushed the higher education budget over a major hurdle last week, adding more money for universities and slightly reducing the proposed tuition increase along the way.
The Oregon Legislature’s Education Subcommittee rubber-stamped a $792 million two-year budget — $65 million more than originally proposed by Gov. John Kitzhaber — which should go to the Joint Ways and Means Committee for a vote sometime this week.
The budget establishes a 4 percent tuition increase starting this fall and a 3 percent increase the next year. Although University students and education lobbyists were pushing for a 5 percent total during the two years, they agree the number is a pleasant surprise from the 4-and-4 split they had begun to think would become a reality.
“In terms of the budget climate, we came out as best as we could,” said Julie Suchanek-Ritchie, the spokeswoman for the Oregon Student Association.
The OSA, among other activities, has been lobbying legislators to increase funding and decrease the tuition hike.
If school administrators want to raise tuition above the 4 percent or 3 percent level, respectively, they would need approval from the Legislature’s Emergency Board, which functions when the full House and Senate are not in session. But Suchanek-Ritchie said she doubts many schools will come back asking to go over the cap.
“It doesn’t look that good politically to go back,” she said.
The subcommittee also included a stipulation that money raised from increased tuition must stay in the higher education budget. Without that stipulation, the extra funds students paid could have funded any other part of the state budget from road repair to social services.
“This wouldn’t have happened if students didn’t make a fuss,” Suchanek-Ritchie said.
One of those students, former ASUO State Affairs Coordinator Brian Tanner, agreed, but said some minor problems still linger with the budget that will have lasting effects at the University.
The budget is still about $31 million less than what the Oregon University System originally requested. With that cut still existing, Tanner said, too much money has been earmarked for specific programs such as computer science and Oregon State University’s Bend branch campus.
He said specific programs deserve funding, but with some cuts unavoidable, more of that money should have gone to funding the OUS in general.
“It works when it’s funded fully, but this takes a step back,” Tanner said.
He added that the smaller tuition hike could damage the University because the committee refused to put a cap on the record enrollment coming this fall.
With so many students coming in, the University may be forced to go to the Emergency Board to increase tuition above the 4 and 3 percent marks.
“You have an influx of students and less money to play with,” Tanner said. “The only way to [solve the problem] is with tuition.”
University Provost John Moseley said he is optimistic that despite projected fall enrollment above 18,000 students, the University will increase tuition no more than 5 percent and no less than 4 percent. He said with that increase the school will not be in danger of losing programs or services.
“We probably won’t make a final decision until the July OUS meeting,” Moseley said.
But he added that if the Legislature does not improve funding for the next two-year period, the school could be looking at 10 percent hikes and lost programs.
Tanner said the current burden will be eased if rumors circulating through Salem come true and the Legislature adds money to programs such as need-based grants and grants for student parents.
Tanner said despite the small remaining problems, he agrees that the Legislature did the best it could in a year where programs simply couldn’t escape cuts, and the lobbying efforts affirmed his belief that students truly can affect their tuition.
“We don’t have to sit there and just take it,” he said.
Suchanek-Ritchie said the subcommittee is the last place for major debate on the budget. She expects the budget to face few changes in the joint committee, as well as the House and Senate, before it reaches Kitzhaber’s desk for final approval.
ASUO Vice President Joy Nair said student government is currently taking a “wait and see” approach, but students are organized to lobby legislators if the budget proposal changes during the final parts of the process.