By Diane Knich

The Post and Courier

Friday, October 24, 2008

A key legislator discouraged leaders at the state's public colleges and universities from passing on to students the pain of budget cuts through a mid-year bump in the cost of tuition.

Most of the state's higher education institutions took a 15 percent hit to their 2008-09 budgets in the latest round of budget slashing in Columbia. The state Senate approved the cost-cutting plan Thursday.

Although school leaders have been huddling in meeting rooms on their respective campuses for weeks trying to prepare for the looming belt tightening, most said Thursday they aren't ready to unveil their slimmed down plans for the school year.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman said Wednesday that he had informal commitments from the state's three research universities — Clemson University, the University of South Carolina and the Medical University of South Carolina — not to raise second-semester tuition as a result of the latest round of budget cuts. "I think they will honor that," he said.

Leatherman, a Florence Republican and lead budget writer, said the universities understand that raising tuition too high could push South Carolina students to leave the state to attend college. And he said he expects other state colleges to follow the lead of the research institutions.

MUSC President Ray Greenberg could not be reached for comment Thursday. But in an open letter to faculty, staff and students Wednesday, Greenberg said, "I can assure you that we will make every effort to preserve quality, programs and jobs as we deal with our financial challenges."

At the College of Charleston, The Citadel and Trident Technical College, leaders said they would try to keep from cutting instructional programs and student services.

Trident Technical College President Mary Thornley has a solid plan in place to deal with the cuts to her institution. The school won't fill about 25 open positions, she said. And leaders aren't going to move forward with planned facility improvements such as repairing roofs and bathrooms. "It's severe," she said. "You can't lose that much money and not feel the severity."

But the school will be able to function because "our people are willing to pick up and do more," Thornley said.

Citadel Provost Sam Hines said in anticipation of budget cuts, Lt. Gen. John Rosa, the school's president, put a cost-cutting plan in place in September. Now, the school simply has to decide how it will expand that plan. The plan includes delaying hiring and salary increases; restricting travel; and continuing to defer some building maintenance projects.

The Citadel is also exploring ways to bring in more money, he said.

The most important thing is keeping higher education at The Citadel affordable for students, he said. "We don't want students to have to interrupt their college educations" because of financial constraints, he said.

College of Charleston spokesman Mike Robertson said school leaders are simply looking for "the least negative impact." But, he added, "everything's on the table."

Yvonne Wenger contributed to this report. Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or dknich@postandcourier.com.

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