Alexander, F. King

Floss, Fred

Harnisch, Thomas, (Moderator)

Laderman, Sophia

Taber, Mary

English

Eastern Illinois University

Public Higher Education:What Happened?For the Hunter College Collective Bargaining Conference March 27, 2023United University Professions Director of ResearchMary E. Taber, MPPM, Ph.D. $1,453$1,179$1,059$922 $913$898 $909 $893 $865 $848$964$815$762 $747$708$274$394$532 $541 $555 $545 $561 $588 $606$490$639$692$706$745$0$200$400$600$800$1,000$1,200$1,400$$$ in MillionsState Support Cut in SupportDECLINING DIRECT STATE SUPPORT FOR SUNY [Excludes SUNY Teaching Hospitals]Since SFY 2008-09 the state has reduced direct state support by a total of over $7.8 billion, or 39%. ($$$ in millions and adjusted for inflation)$0$50$100$150$200Since SFY 2008-09 the state has reduced the state subsidy to the hospitals by a total of $2 billion, or 66%. ($$$ in millions and adjusted for inflation)STATE CRITICAL MISSION FUNDING (STATE SUBSIDY) FOR SUNY’S PUBLIC TEACHING HOSPITALS HAS FLATLINED57.861.519.016.713.9 13.9 13.9 13.9 13.9 13.9 13.9 13.9 13.9 13.9 13.9$0$10$20$30$40$50$60$70DIRECT STATE SUPPORT FOR SUNYOSWEGO(NY STATE APPROPRIATIONS IN MILLIONS)OswegoPublic Higher Education: Revenue Generator?Cornell University’s College of Agriculture become the NYS College of Agriculture in 1904?Cornell College of Forestry closed in 1903? The NYS College of Forestry (SUNY ESF) opened in 1911? Syracuse University Chancellor in the late 1940s recommended transferring the medical school to a newly established SUNY? WHY DID THE FOLLOWING HAPPEN?NYS NEED for improved labor-mgmt., agriculture, forestry, & trained school teachers [public goods]DEMAND: Post WWII dramatic increase in demand for higher education.DISCRIMINATION: Quotas at private institutions.COST: High quality higher education (and health care) is an investment & is not profitable.SUNYAre professors’ salaries much higher today???NONote: 1962 salaries adjusted for 2022 inflation.1962 Buff State Geneseo New Paltz Oneonta OswegoStudent Fees $244,767 $67,739 $220,625 $162,003 $149,650 Public Sources $2,623,152 $1,786,858 $1,869,326 $1,997,000 $2,579,701 Total Income $2,867,919 $1,854,597 $2,089,951 $2,159,003 $2,729,351 Excess (or deficit) $0 ($33,703) $14,659 ($6,762) $56,312 % of income student fees 8.53% 3.65% 10.56% 7.50% 5.48%% public sources 91.47% 96.35% 89.44% 92.50% 94.52%Current Deficit $19.3 million $9.1 million $4 million $1.9 million $5 millionToday total state support is less than 30% of SUNY’s Revenue. Tuition/Fees are roughly double State Operations Direct Appropriations.Is enrollment to blame?27,000 at inception in 194830,910 in 195563,721 in 1959 [Growth rate 3X national average]More than 150,000 in 1964Note: 1963 first year SUNY charged tuition = $400 [Less than $4,000 today.]204,279209,598220,290222,613224,178222,437219,861219,942221,027219,759218,809220,339221,840222,00020222021202020192018201720162015201420132012201120102009State University of NY State-Operated CampusesTotal Student Headcount [FTE roughly 87% of total]1962#applicat process # accept1st year admitsAccept Rate YieldFall 2021 undergrad #Buffalo State 2472 1365 999 55% 73% 6000Univ. at Buffalo 5442* 3578 2292 66% 64% 21000Oswego 2449 1614 795 66% 49% 6100Plattsburgh 1187 917 562 77% 61% 4300Potsdam 1276 708 490 55% 69% 2300In 1962 SUNY’s student-faculty ratios often lower than today. Why were applicants turned away?*Was it coincidental that SUNY started charging tuition at the same time the NYS Legislature created the SUNY Construction Fund?“In 75+ years of service to New Yorkers, DASNY has grown into one of the largest financiers and builders of social infrastructure facilities in the United States.”If assume 200,000 students, debt service is roughly $3000 per student. OPERATING EXPENSES:Instruction $2,148,696Research $771,686Public service $288,347Academic support $520,626Student services $394,588Institutional support $996,879Operation and maintenance of plant $619,262Scholarships and fellowships $511,331Hospitals and clinics $3,624,490Statement of Cash FlowsCash flows from operating activities:Payments for fringe benefits -$721,312Cash flows from capital and related financing activities:Principal paid on capital debt and leases -$2,366,703Interest paid on capital debt and leases -$541,513Note the largest expense above. Compare it to Gifts. Compare it to Investment income.DORMS YESTERDAY & TODAY  SUNY Buff State: “Total enrollment in the residence halls is 1,683. This is a decrease of 50 students (2.9%) from fall 2021. Since fall 2018, residence hall occupancy has decreased by 28.9 percent.” “UB from 1900 to the end of World War II represented the quintessential urban university. Located after 1920 at the end of the Main Street trolley line, all its students were commuters, overwhelmingly drawn from the Buffalo metropolitan area and Western New York.”“Enrollment data is used in tuition revenue planning. Each campus is assigned a tuition revenue target based on the planned enrollment data. If the revenue target is not met, a campus must reduce its operating expenses on a dollar-for-dollar basis or provide revenue from another source to meet the revenue shortfall.”“The State University’s residence hall operations and rehabilitation programs are financially self-sufficient (i.e., there is no State support provided to pay these costs). Each campus is responsible for meeting its own costs of operations, maintenance and rehabilitation of the residence halls. ..Funding for capital construction and rehabilitation of residence halls is provided from the issuance of bonds by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (“DASNY”) and from reserve funds accumulated by campuses from residence hall operating revenues.”SUNY state funding and NYS’s budget: Top taxes have been reduced for the wealthiest and increased for the middle and working class. Less money for public higher ed (which disproportionately serves the middle and working class). Yet NYS budget has grown tremendously. Over 78 billion in 2008-9 (equal to over 111 billion today); if you include federal and all funds was over 121 billion (equal to over 173 billion today).  NYS’s current $227 billion proposed budget (over $5 billion increase from last year)Priorities?Governance Foundation Fissure? As the state has stopped funding higher education, and viewed SUNY as another nonprofit it can choose or not to choose to fund, SUNY is at a particular disadvantage. Administration and board of trustees of actual private nonprofits (such as a homeless shelters, museums or private colleges) have fiduciary responsibility and Duty of Loyalty to the nonprofit they govern.  SUNY top administrators and board of trustees (being political appointees) have allegiance & loyalty to the governor.Conflict of interest?SOLUTIONS?? Legislatures need to understand the importance of excess capacity & ability to pivot. Focus on public higher education as a public good [consistent with SUNY’s history]. Part-time students and commuters and returning students who will not necessarily reside in the dorms. Need to understand the impact of disappearing lifetime employment  reduces employers investing in employee training; cost of training no longer primarily a public good but now for private sector employers; thus need to find a way for the private sector to subsidize public higher education costs…. The board of trustees and administrators need to demand the state fund public higher education, or they need to be responsible for finding funding sources other than students.

Panel: Looking Back, Looking Ahead - State and Federal Higher Education Financing Over the Past Half-Century

https://thekeep.eiu.edu/context/ncscbhep_conferences/article/1114/filename/1/type/additional/viewcontent/2023Presentation_Taber__State_and_Federal_Financiing_of_Higher_Ed.pdf

Panel: Looking Back, Looking Ahead - State and Federal Higher Education Financing Over the Past Half-Century

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Eastern Illinois University