CHARLESTON, W.Va. -West Virginia University (WVU) and Marshall University (MU) made budget presentations before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday. Both schools described a rapidly changing post-pandemic environment that makes state funding very important to their budgets.
Last year, the legislature approved $16.6 million for WVU and $9.7 million for MU.
The WVU 2023 budget was $1.2 billion in total and included about a 2.5 percent tuition increase. The MU budget for 2023 is $318 and holds tuition flat.
In addition to the pandemic, a report from the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy shows that between 2013 and 2020, state funding for higher education institutions statewide decreased by 14 percent. Since 2010, the average tuition and fees at a four-year public college in West Virginia have gone up by 33 percent and low-income student registration has dropped about 17 percent.
WVU President E. Gordon Gee said all of these factors have forced institutions nationwide to transform or fade away.
“The role of higher education is that we will either be the architects of change or its victims, and so many of our institutions around the country are playing that victim role,” Gee said. “Marshall, West Virginia University, and the state of West Virginia do not intend on playing that role.”
MU President Brad Smith said they have learned affordability, flexibility, and relevance are key factors considered by people considering higher education. Smith said they are adding micro-certifications, vocational training, and other options to make higher education an attractive alternative.
“We’re on a journey to ensure affordability,” Smith said. “We’re moderating tuition increases, and we are trying to launch a pathway to a debt-free education by raising scholarship dollars, getting all the state and federal money, and helping them with work study.”
According to Smith, the real challenge will evolve over the next few years, and all institutions must learn how to engage a smaller pool of available high school seniors. For the non-traditional learner, institutions must seriously consider creative schedules, shorter classes, and value.
“The “enrollment cliff” in 2025 based on national demographics there will be fewer high school students graduating high school and it will begin to drop at a rate of 15 percent a year in 2025,” Smith said.
WVU Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, Rob Alsop, said inflation has been an invisible issue that has reduced the value of their spending. However, Alsop said spending controls have allowed them to maximize the dollars they do have.
“The purchasing power of what we get today versus what we received from the state in the 1990s is about 40 percent, so we are doing more with less inflation, which is having an impact on all of us,” Alsop said.
Deferred maintenance is a major issue for both institutions. At WVU, Alsop said a recent study showed they would have to spend an additional several million dollars each year over the next ten years to satisfy all maintenance needs. MU’s Chief Financial Officer, Matt Tidd, described the issue as a major priority.
“Currently, Marshall has identified $26 million in deferred maintenance projects that directly impact safety and another almost $76 million in projects that, if they are not done, cost the university additional funds,” Tidd said.