The enigma of support for higher education: impact on Alaska.

AuthorRoy, Ashok K.
PositionEDUCATION

The views expressed herein are the author's own and not those of the University of Alaska.

"And not by eastern windows only, When daylight comes, comes in the light, In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly, But westward, look, the land is bright."

--Arthur Clough

Research and development (R&D) gives a nation competitive advantage. From Whitney's cotton gin to microprocessor chips to iPods, history proves this. Apart from corporate R&D centers, the intellectual firepower needed for R&D usually resides at universities. The primary role of universities is to serve society. The benefits of higher education are many, including: improving prospects and earnings for employment; preparing for success in the global economy; productivity; and civic participation.

Historically, state appropriations have been the most important source of funding for higher education. As a nation, we have significantly reduced state support per student in recent years (between 1990 and 2010, appropriations per full time equivalent student declined by 26 percent. Note that with $18,000 of state appropriation per student FTE, Alaska is the exception to this trend). What is the implication of this when education is considered a public good? Over this same 20-year period, tuition has increased by 112 percent at public universities while median household income grew by 2 percent. As a result of decreasing state appropriations per student, rising tuition and stagnating median household incomes, the total student debt held by households stands at $1 trillion--more than the nation's credit card debt. It needs to be realized that as higher education funding is discretionary, public universities have to compete with other state priorities. As higher education budgets are largely incremental--although more than 33 states currently implement performance-based funding systems--states such as Alaska that have supported higher education at a high rate are more likely to maintain the range of support, barring budget pressures like increasing oil production in the Lower 48.

Best in the World

Our universities are the best in the world: six of the top 10, 13 of the top 20, and 130 of the world's top 700 universities reside in the U.S.; and research shows that universities play a vital role in the economic development ecosystem via innovation. While the issues are inextricably linked, universities teach the next generation of innovators and also contribute via faculty research. At the University of Alaska, according to a recent study, for every dollar of state investment in UA research in fiscal year 2011, the university generated $5.60 in additional research revenues. Competitiveness is a complex issue involving...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT