February 14, 2011
Federal Budget Proposals Affect Higher Education
The UW Office of Federal Relations has posted detailed summaries of how recent federal budget proposals may affect higher education. As the House Republicans propose major spending cuts for FY 2011 that target Pell grants and funding for federal agencies that support academic research, President Obama has released a FY 2012 proposal that largely protects…
Virginia Close to Passing Major Higher Ed Reform
Virginia’s Governor, Robert McConnell, endorsed all of the recommendations made by the Higher Education Commission he created last year to explore policy options for higher education reform. The resulting Virginia Higher Education Act of 2011 has moved quickly through both the House and Senate and may soon be on its way to the Governor. The…
February 3, 2011
Americans Struggling Economically, Worried about Affordable Higher Ed
That Americans are concerned about the rising price of higher education is not news. However, Public Agenda’s newly released survey results, Slip-Sliding Away: An Anxious Public Talks About Today’s Economy and the American Dream, shed some new light on how the continuing economic crisis may have heightened those concerns. The telephone survey was administered to…
February 1, 2011
State of the States
We continue to closely follow the fate of Washington State’s budget, but are also keeping our eyes on what is happening in other states. Below are some resources that you might also find of interest: Education Week provides brief coverage of and links to the State of the State addresses as they are made in…
January 26, 2011
New OPB Brief on Institutional Autonomy
The economic outlook for state budgets remains bleak and additional steep cuts to public higher education inevitable, making it imperative to re-imagine how institutions can become more efficient and self-sufficient while remaining effective and accountable to the public. For many institutions greater autonomy from the practices and requirements of state government seems attractive, and this…
January 24, 2011
Somber State Budget Update Presented to UW Regents
Paul Jenny, Vice Provost of Planning & Budgeting, presented the Governor’s proposed budget for higher education and the UW to our Board of Regents last Thursday. Paul touched on the upcoming state revenue forecast, the Governor’s cuts to all institutions, and the impact of future state funding cuts on campus. The Regents expressed many concerns throughout…
January 21, 2011
Are the States Alright?
You may have read a widely circulated New York Times article today concerning the possibility of the federal government creating a pathway for states to seek protection in federal bankruptcy court if their debt burdens spiral out of control. Some policymakers think that the severe economic strain created by the Great Recession has revealed deep…
January 17, 2011
A New Normal?
In A New Funding Paradigm for Higher Education, the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) puts the Great Recession into context and discusses the cyclical nature of state funding for higher education, which has historically followed a pattern of major cuts in poor economic periods followed by generous reinvestment in good times. Considering the…
January 14, 2011
How Other Campuses Plan: Sustainability as Part of Campus Planning
Welcome to two new topics on OPBlog: Campus Planning and Capital Resources as they relate to a unified approach to capital planning. We will begin posting on topics related to capital resources, capital budgets, campus planning, and national trends in those areas. This first post looks at planning efforts in Portland and the role Universities…
Economist Emphasizes Continuing Value of College
Inside Higher Ed has published a long but excellent piece called College Is Still Worth It by Anthony P. Carnevale, Director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. If you have the time, check out the Center’s full report from last summer, which projects America’s workforce and educational needs for the coming…