Doubling the amount of state-funded financial aid for public higher education students to $400 million a year is among the recommendations a state board is making to capitalize on a “unique moment of opportunity” in education funding.
The Board of Higher Education voted unanimously Tuesday to advance a set of recommendations, calling for reforms and reinvestment in the public higher education system that aim to make it more equitable and address the costs of attending college or university.
The board is also recommending that the state provide additional funding for resources to support low-income students, expand the Department of Higher Education’s capacity to invest in the Higher Education Innovation Fund, codify the commitment to fund faculty salary increases through collective bargaining agreements and provide more transparency around student tuition and fees.
The board hired management consulting company EY-Parthenon last year to conduct the strategic review of public higher education financing, resulting in the policy recommendations the board voted on Tuesday.
Board chair Chris Gabrieli called this moment a “window of opportunity,” as enrollment declines, costs and debt spiral, and equity gaps persist in higher education. The state will soon see an influx of funds intended for public education and transportation due to the adoption by voters of a constitutional amendment imposing a 4 percent surtax on household income above $1 million per year.
“This is not just a random moment,” Gabrieli said. “It’s been talked a lot about — Question 1’s explicit earmark of public colleges and universities as one of three uses really calls into question, ‘Do we have, what could be called to use an old term, a shovel-ready plan?’… Happily, 13 months of work, or really 15 months, culminated in a moment where I think we can bring a responsible, considered plan.”
The recommendations add to a mounting pile of requests as competing interests position themselves for a stake of the income surtax funding, with early and K-12 education stakeholders vying for a share as well as myriad interests in public transportation.