Since the financial crisis of 2008 and the ensuing recession, Brown has instituted very tough budget cuts. President Ruth Simmons, the Corporation and leaders of our institution have time and again emphasized the importance of belt-tightening during this economic downturn.
That said, amidst all of our serious and considerable fiscal issues, we must also be cognizant of a disturbing trend in higher education — an increasing gap between private and public institutions. The Delta Project, an organization that studies higher education costs, published a new report yesterday that features alarming statistics about the disproportionate and heavy toll public universities and community colleges have shouldered since the recession.
Two-year community colleges, which hold the key to both greater education and job creation, experienced a 3.4 percent decrease in per-pupil spending from 2008 to 2009, the largest drop in any sector of public education. The report also notes that "disparities between rich and poor institutions in overall spending have never been higher." Further, private institutions have seen increased revenue from tuition, alumni donations and the like and have actually increased overall spending. While private universities have been able to use this additional funding to improve student aid, public institutions have had to use most of their extra money to make up for decreased state funding and higher employee health care costs. As our private university examines its financial woes, we should certainly be alarmed and troubled by the financial hardships at public universities around the country.
We applaud President Obama's pledge in his speech to a joint session of Congress last week to devote $5 billion to renovate and modernize buildings and infrastructure at community colleges. We know that this proposal is particularly ambitious given the federal government's dangerous and reckless preoccupation with spending cuts. That said, $5 billion is just a small start and does not touch important areas such as tuition relief and academic spending. We also remember Obama's pledge early in his presidency to devote $12 billion to community colleges, a number that was reduced to just $2 billion after the initial plan was abandoned. We hope Obama will hold firm to his pledge and that this is just the beginning of a serious financial commitment to our nation's community colleges.
As campus-wide debates wage on about Brown's rightful place on the US News and World Report rankings, our infrastructural renovations and further budget cuts, it is important to keep these issues in perspective. As the report says, "Rich institutions are getting richer, and poor institutions are getting poorer." Washington must pledge a serious commitment to our country's public universities and community colleges and invest in American education, job creation and human capital.
Editorials are written by The Herald's editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
