Universities Fear Loss Of Funding For Black, Appalachian Students

By JAMES HANNAHAssociated Press Writer WILBERFORCE, Ohio (AP) – As lawmakers debate changes to the way higher education is funded in Ohio, two universities worry about their mission to serve students outside the mainstream. House Republicans want to pool several funding programs for universities into a single source in 2007, including the elimination of extra money for Central State and Shawnee State universities. Central State, an 1,800-student campus near Dayton, is a historically black college just starting to emerge from years of financial turmoil. Shawnee State, in impoverished southern Ohio, enrolls many first-generation students from Appalachia. Presidents of both schools worry that the loss of a combined $13 million in supplemental dollars would endanger the work they do with students typically underrepresented on college campuses. Shawnee State’s $2 million annual supplement accounts for about 6 percent of the school’s $32 million budget. Central State’s about $11 million annual supplement represents about 60 percent of its state funding and nearly one-third of the school’s annual budget. “It is not extra money,” said Central State University president John Garland. The House version of the $51 billion state budget would, beginning in 2007, put the supplements in with most other education funding. The money would be distributed to all 62 of the state’s public colleges and universities using a formula to be determined later. Lawmakers could decide to give Central State and Shawnee State the same amount they receive as a supplement, or they could give the money to other schools. The goal is to ensure Ohio’s precious education dollars get maximum benefit statewide and produce a more educated work force that would attract more companies, said state Rep. Shawn Webster, a Republican from Hamilton in southwest Ohio. “It’s all about what Ohio needs,” he said. “I don’t think we should narrow the focus.” While other states provide funding for historically black colleges, few, if any, have special supplemental funds like Ohio does, higher-education funding experts said. Ohio has given the money to Central State since 1969 and to Shawnee State since 1986. Under the House plan, higher education overall would receive no additional money next year, and funding would be reduced for 33 colleges and universities. State senators had not yet determined what, if anything, they might want to change in the House’s higher education budget, Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, said Tuesday. Funding for higher education has lagged in recent years as the state, struggling with low revenues, has spent most available tax dollars on health care and schools. Central State will increase tuition and room and board by 6 percent beginning this fall, hiking it from about $11,298 a year to nearly $11,976 for in-state students. Shawnee State might seek permission for a tuition increase above the 6 percent state cap even though enrollment might drop and keeping tuition low is a priority, said President Rita Rice Morris. Enrollment is 3,800 students this year at the school in Portsmouth on the Ohio River, compared with about 3,300 five years ago. Garland said loss of the supplemental fund would hurt Central State’s efforts to improve the quality of its programs, compete for the best teachers and attract students. The state increased oversight and funding for the school in this southwest Ohio town in 1997 because of a multimillion-dollar deficit and deteriorating campus buildings. Central State was released from state supervision in 2002. It has opened two new dormitories and a center devoted to the study of gerontology and is building a new academic building that will house the education college and science departments. Enrollment has been slowly increasing, but at about 1,800 is still well below the peak of 3,263 in 1991. Central State draws more black students than many larger schools. Last fall, 595 black freshmen enrolled there compared with 393 at Ohio State University, a school more than 30 times larger. Colleges in Appalachia provide opportunity for students in sparsely populated areas who cannot afford more expensive schools and want to stay close to home because of family or job ties, said Jake Bapst, interim director of the Ohio Appalachian Center for Higher Education. “The Appalachian character is not to stray too far from home,” Bapst said. Garland said 14 percent of the state’s black residents have bachelor’s degrees compared with 24 percent of all Ohioans. “If we’re going to increase the number of Ohioans with baccalaureate degrees, we have to make sure all Ohioans are included in that number,” he said.