Making the grade: higher education is Utah's current business boom.

• Author: Sutherland, Spencer
• Position: Focus

In today's economy, when most companies are struggling to stay afloat, the word "growth" seems like nothing more than a distant memory from better days. But amid the downsizing, consolidating and restructuring, one Utah industry is experiencing unprecedented growth: higher education.

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Utah's higher education industry is booming, with enrollment up nearly 25 percent from 2008. For the state's college and university classrooms, however, the increase is not necessarily a good thing. Due to recent cuts in the state's education budget, schools are struggling to serve more students with fewer dollars.

The Challenges

Weber State University President Ann Millner has a simple explanation for the overwhelming growth. "When the economy sinks, enrollment goes up," she says, explaining that higher education enrollment is counter-cyclical--when the economy is strong, enrollment drops because many high school graduates head directly into the workforce. Also, those who are employed have little reason to go back to school.

Today, however, the opposite is true. "More students out of high school are deciding that higher education needs to be part of their preparation for work and life," Millner says. "The second component is the returning student--those who want to have all the job skills they need to be able to succeed in the weak economy and [those who are] returning because they're out of work."

Consequently, head-count at Weber is up 25 percent during the past two years. "In the university setting, that is a significant increase," Millner says, especially given the 17 percent education budget cut this past legislative session. "We're serving more students with fewer dollars. In a difficult budget environment, what we worry about is a quality education experience and access for our students."

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One-time federal stimulus funding reduced the 17 percent budget cut by about half, says Millner adding that the stimulus money allowed the university to spread the legislative cuts over two years. "We're grateful for that, but by July 2010 we will have taken a 17 percent cut in our state tax budget."

Such budget cuts have affected students' access to courses, Millner says. And though the university has had only minor layoffs, there are not enough teachers and resources to meet the increased demand. "We would probably have more students at Weber State this semester if we were able to open more sessions of classes. But given...