INSTITUTIONS: HIGHER COSTS AND
UNDERFUNDING
A 1978 study
by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems
(nchems) calculated,
on a per-student basis, federal revenues received by the nonurban
and urban campuses of two universities—the Urbana and Chicago
Circle campuses of the University of Illinois and the Amherst and
Boston campuses of the University of Massachusetts. The study found
that in both federal appropriations and federal grants and
contracts the nonurban campuses received substantially more funding
per student than did the urban campuses. The National Association
of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, which annually
examines state tax support for higher education, reported in its
1979-1980 study that the nonurban campuses cited above got
substantially more state tax revenue support per student than the
urban campuses. The
nchems study reported
the same finding. Both studies indicate that these are not isolated
examples of funding discrepancies.
Although
these and other studies suggest inequities in funding, they cannot
be taken as proof of unfairness. There are such wide variations in
institutional budgeting and accounting practices, state and federal
funding formulas, and educational operating assumptions, that
figures comparing costs and revenue are almost always open to
question. Although there is no question that the nonurban campuses
in Illinois and Massachusetts get more federal and state support on
a per-student basis, it is not at all clear what the funds are used
for.
The important
point is whether urban-oriented institutions of higher education
are funded at a level adequate to meet the full costs of programs
and services for their inner-city constituents. It should be kept
in mind that because urban-oriented institutions have higher
overhead costs, a smaller proportion of their total revenue is
available for instructional programs and services. One of their
higher costs is debt service.
During the
last two decades many urban-oriented colleges and universities
undertook major construction to provide more space and programs.
Others were built from scratch, with total campuses constructed
seemingly overnight. For example, the Boston campus of the
University of Massachusetts was built entirely in 1975. (In
contrast the Amherst campus evolved over the course of a century.)
Whether expanding or starting fresh, urban-oriented institutions
were obliged to purchase expensive land and pay high labor and
construction costs. (Such costs are always higher in the cities
than in rural and suburban areas.)
Thus, older,
nonurban institutions that grew slowly over decades