UNIVERSITY FINANCES

Like other states, Maine has chronically underfunded higher education. Repeatedly turning to the Legislature for more money is not the solution to this problem, however.

Nationally, state support for public higher education, as a share of total spending, has declined in recent decades. In Maine, the state’s share has fallen from more than 70 percent of the university system’s budget in 1989 to 45 percent this year.

Given this reality, schools have to be more creative and self-reliant to ensure they continue to provide an affordable, high quality education. The University of Maine System is no exception.

Yet, university system trustees this week decided to request an additional $8 million for fiscal year 2009. The additional money would be used to offset tuition increases and to improve academic quality, system officials said. With the additional funding, tuition would increase 6 percent. Without it, the expected increase is 12.6 percent.

The new request would be on top of an additional $5 million for the next biennium approved by the Legislature this spring. Even with the additional funding, tuition rose by an average of nearly 10 percent at the system’s seven campuses.

While more state funding for higher education is deserved, the state is expected to face continuing shortfalls as revenues fall below expectations. This means lawmakers will be looking for places to reduce spending, not allocate additional revenue.

This leaves the university system with several options. It has repeatedly turned to students and their families by raising tuition, which is partially offset by devoting more state resources to financial aid. This is not a sustainable course either.

That leaves cutting costs and boosting private fundraising, both areas the universities are focusing on.

The university system is looking for ways to reduce expenses to reinvest that money in the campuses. Nearly $3 million was cut from the system’s administrative office, and Chancellor Richard Pattenaude has pledged to cut another $2.6 million. He is also working with each of the seven campuses to find efficiencies and will give each campus a savings target next month.

The University of Missouri at Columbia offers a model. Chancellor Brady Deaton has pledged to find $7 million in savings next year with the money redirected to improving academic quality at the campus.

A push from lawmakers, such as the suggestion that the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability do an independent review of campus operations to see how they compare with national norms and peer institutions, could help ensure the efficiency targets are aggressive.

Another option is to significantly increase private fundraising, which is already happening on some campuses. The University of Maine, which is in the midst of a $150 million capital campaign, had its best fundraising year in 2006, with about $35 million in donations. Still, this pales in comparison to the billion-dollar campaigns at other public universities.

Given the state’s own financial woes, Maine’s shortchanging of higher education is not going to end. Campuses must find new ways to reduce costs and raise revenue so that a college education remains affordable for Maine families.