Less funding from the Legislature force reductions in staff and programs
By WAYNE WASHINGTON
wwashington@thestate.com
Public colleges and universities in South Carolina are sifting through painful options as they struggle to cope with state budget cuts many officials describe as deep and unprecedented.
Higher education took a $123 million hit in October when the General Assembly cut $488 million from the state budget because of the sharp economic downturn. For many colleges and universities, the October cut was the third they sustained this fiscal year, as state officials have continued revising revenue estimates downward.
Now, college presidents are ordering furloughs, slashing staff and freezing open positions — even as more budget cuts loom early next year.
“I’ve been in the Legislature since 1994, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said state Rep. Chip Limehouse, the Charleston Republican who chairs the higher education subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives. “My fear is we’re losing jobs left and right. When you cut higher education, you’re cutting good-paying jobs.”
While colleges and universities are getting less money from the state, they are also less able to make up that money by raising tuition.
Tuition at the state’s largest schools is already among the highest in the Southeast, and the weak economy makes it difficult for students and families to meet existing costs.
South Carolina’s unemployment rate reached 8 percent in October, the highest level in 25 years.
USC’s system took the biggest state cut in dollar terms — $38.9 million. But USC President Harris Pastides said there is a low probability that tuition will be raised sharply to offset some of the budget cuts.
Pastides is still reviewing some budget recommendations and awaiting others from throughout the system. He said he expects to put forward a plan to address the budget cuts between Thanksgiving and mid-December.
Other schools have already begun outlining some of the ways they will address the budget cuts.
Clemson, which sustained a $26 million budget cut, has ordered mandatory five-day furloughs, eliminated non-essential travel and instituted a partial hiring freeze.
“It is regrettable that we have to take actions that directly impact the Clemson family, but the severity of the budget cuts leave us no choice,” Clemson President James Barker said in a statement outlining the university’s budget cut strategy.
South Carolina’s technical college system sustained a $25 million cut and responded, in part, by eliminating 22 positions in its Columbia office, 16 of which had been filled.
“We cannot continue to survive off crumbs,” said Montez Martin, chairman of the S.C. Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education. “We just can’t do it.”
Winthrop University, which had its budget cut by $3.4 million, has imposed on students a $50 “state appropriation reduction adjustment.”
That fee will cover only 6 percent of the $3.4 million. The rest will be addressed through travel restrictions, holding some positions open, canceling an arts festival, ending some sponsorships, increasing some class sizes and a variety of other measures.
In a news bulletin that outlined the university’s plans, Winthrop President Anthony DiGiorgio said it would have taken a $791 tuition increase to make up the full $3.4 million.
That increase “was simply not an option for us, for our trustees or for families,” the bulletin quotes him as saying.
Like Winthrop, Francis Marion University also sustained a $3.4 million budget cut.
FMU is delaying construction projects, eliminating some student and community assistance programs and holding some positions open.
FMU President Fred Carter said he understands that legislators had to make difficult choices.
“The reality is the revenue dollars did not materialize,” Carter said.
While college and university officials readily concede the pain the cuts will cause, none were openly critical of legislators.
Many, however, did note that public funding for higher education in South Carolina has continued to decline.
Indeed, figures from the S.C. Commission on Higher Education show that 11.3 percent of state revenue was spent on colleges and universities in 2007-08. That’s down from 14.9 percent in 1998-99.
Among the 16 states whose education systems are analyzed by the Southern Regional Education Board, South Carolina ranked ninth in 2006-07 in the percentage of state tax money used for higher education operating expenses.
Keeping college accessible, education officials argue, is key to the economic well-being of a state.
Figures from the U.S. Census Bureau back up that argument.
From 2005 through 2007, three of the five states with the highest median income also had the highest percentage of people 25 or older who had at least a bachelor’s degree. Conversely, three of the five states with the lowest median income also had the lowest percentage of people 25 or older with at least a bachelor’s degree.
Only 10 states had a lower median income than South Carolina from 2005 through 2007. That’s the same number of states that had a lower percentage of people 25 or older with at least a bachelor’s degree.
Limehouse said legislators had few options as they scoured the state budget for places to cut.
Medicaid’s complexity dissuaded legislators from seeing it as a quick source of cuts, he said.
“We couldn’t cut Corrections,” he added. “They’re already woefully underfunded as it is. K-12 has a much larger constituency, and it’s hard to cut public education in this state.”
That left higher education.
Limehouse said the cuts are difficult, but he is confident they can be borne without permanent harm.
“We’re all going to get through this,” he said. “This is a big pothole in the road, but we’re going to get through this.”
COPING WITH CUTS
Higher education took a big hit when the General Assembly cut state funding to close a budget deficit. Schools have reacted in different ways. Here is a look at cuts at some schools and what they did to address them:
CLEMSON
Cut: $26 million, 15.7 percent
Solution: mandatory five-day furlough for faculty and staff; delay construction projects
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON
Cut: $6.2 million, 18.7 percent
Solution: limit travel; hiring slowdown
FRANCIS MARION
Cut: $3.4 million, 17.7 percent
Solution: delay construction projects; eliminate some community and student-assistance programs; hold open some positions
MUSC
Cut: $16.8 million, 17.6 percent
Solution: still reviewing options
S.C. STATE
Cut: $3.4 million, 14.8 percent
Solution: still reviewing options
S.C. TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
Cut: $25 million, 14.4 percent
Solution: eliminate 22 positions from the system’s Columbia office; individual colleges are cutting expenses, ordering furloughs and reassigning staff
USC SYSTEM
Cut: $38.9 million, 17.45 percent
Solution: still reviewing options
WINTHROP
Cut: $3.4 million, 14.8 percent
Solution: impose a $50 “state appropriation reduction adjustment” fee; limit travel; defer an arts festival; keep some faculty and staff positions open; increase some class sizes
Reach senior writer Wayne Washington at (803) 771-8385.
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