WASHINGTON – Hundreds of community college trustees and officials, meeting this week at the 2010 Community College National Legislative Summit, are girding themselves for projected state funding shortfalls in 2012 when stimulus funds will dry up and recessionary budget gaps are expected to swell.
During a Thursday policy session at the annual legislative summit organized by the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), officials presented a bleak outlook for states and the recession’s potential long-term effects. Without stimulus money, higher education is poised to see deeper drops in funding than the projected revenue gains resulting from record high enrollments, summit speakers cautioned.
Collectively, states’ budgets have shrunk since last year about $628 billion or 5.4 percent in the 2010 fiscal year. Additionally, $56 billion has been cut and 36 states are still looking at greater shortfalls, said Daniel Hurley, director of state relations and policy analysis for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).
Hurley, a legislative summit speaker, has been compiling data from the National Governors Association and other sources to assess each state’s higher education investment. Nationally, state support decreased 2 percent in 2009, but was offset by 1 percent increase with monies from the State Fiscal Stabilization Funds. States are increasingly relying on federal money to fund their schools; in 2010, state support dropped 3 percent, according to Hurley.
To neutralize depleting funds, state legislatures have passed record tax increases of about $24 billion but the economic forecast shows no signs of massive improvement through 2014, Hurley told summit attendees.
Meanwhile, community college enrollments have jumped about 16.9 percent in the economic downturn, according to an analysis prepared by the summit’s conveners.
Mary Davenport, director of government relations for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, said states are resorting to spending cuts to balance budgets, putting more pressure on school system trustees.
