In the last days of the 2003 legislative session, Oregon lawmakers passed legislation that will allow the state to draw millions of dollars from tuition revenue generated by the Oregon University System, which includes the University.
House Bill 2148 will force OUS to cough up $14 million from its “other fund” revenue, which is made up mostly of student tuition and fees. Up to $5 million of the total may be drained from the University’s budget and placed in the state’s General Fund, meaning that students will see their tuition and fees used to pay for other state expenses in the 2003-05 budget.
“To balance the higher (education) budget on the backs of students was expected,” Oregon Student Association Executive Director John Wykoff said. “But to balance other state funds on students was a bit of a surprise and sets a bad precedent.”
Lawmakers plan to take $14 million from OUS because state budget experts estimate the university system will save that amount over the next two years through lower employee pension rates, fewer new employees and other changes.
However, the news comes at a time when higher education funding is dropping and students are paying for more of their education than ever before.
According to the OUS Web site, students will pay for about 64 percent of their education out-of-pocket, with the other 36 percent covered by state funds during the 2003-05 biennium. In 2001-03, students paid about 54 percent of the cost. Students and the state split the cost of education in the 1999-01 biennium.
Wykoff said he knew the state was in “tough times.”
“That’s why things like this would happen,” Wykoff said. “But the bottom line is that students are being overtly asked to fund other state institutions. I haven’t seen something like this before.”
University Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lynn Kahle said the University must try to “bootstrap” its way to survival through the budget difficulties the state has suffered.
“Taking away more money will make things more difficult for the University,” Kahle said.
Kahle, a professor of sports marketing, said the return of up to $5 million in tuition and fee revenue from the University back to the state was unfair.
Kahle said it would be difficult to plan a yearly budget without knowing exactly how much money will be drained by the state. With a possible special election in February to strike down an income tax hike that legislators passed to finance state services, the university system could face even more cuts. Additionally, court challenges to some of the pension plan changes could result in more budget difficulties for the state.
“It’s hard to plan what to do when you don’t know how much money you will have,” Kahle said.
Kahle said the loss of a potential $5 million from the University would “hit us harder” in the 2004-05 school year, adding that he hopes the state will reconsider taking away millions of dollars from the University if state revenue increases in the next year.
“Ultimately, we Oregonians are going to need to have a discussion on taxes,” Kahle said. He said reforms needed to be made to the state tax system in order to keep access to higher education from decreasing any further.
“Everyone is concerned that a lot of students are being priced out of an education,” Kahle said.