North Dakota Higher Education GREED.
North Dakota’s Board of Higher Education may seek a 53 percent spending increase from the Legislature during the state’s next two-year budget period, board members say.
The request includes 7 percent yearly pay increases for college faculty and staff. If enrollment remains stable and North Dakota’s colleges get the money they are seeking, the budget plan would limit annual tuition increases at the state’s four-year colleges to 4 percent.
The proposal would impose a two-year freeze on tuition rates at North Dakota’s five two-year colleges. Both the 4 percent tuition cap and the freeze for two-year schools would take effect in the fall of 2009.
In the last legislative session the ND University system got a massive 15% or $160 million dollar increase in general fund appropriations. Now the Board of Higher Education is demanding a spending increase of $640 MILLION!.
And for all of that money they still want to raise tuition faster than the rate of inflation. What is the point of state subsidy of education? It’s not to help the Administration, faculty or staff. The point is to help the students.
Right now the Governor appointed Board of Higher Education doesn’t give a rip about the students or the taxpayers. They are strictly advocating for cushier jobs for those that work in the University system.
In the last ten years state support of higher education is up nearly 50%, but tuition has nearly doubled. The Board of Higher Education has agreed to 15% yearly tuition increases at the UND Law School because the market will bear it. Apparently that’s the reasoning behind their general tuition increases. They think they should charge it because the market will bear it. If that’s the case then we should drop the state subsidies.
Hey the taxpayers helped out me as a student at UND many years ago. I’m willing to do the same. But if the kids now (and my kids in the future) don’t get the benefit from the subsidy than why do it?
The Board of Higher Education is out of control. The recently hired the UND President by not following the rules laid out. They are in full force spending mode.
To my mind there is NO reason whatsoever to increase the higher education budget more than the inflation rate. That’s how things work at home and at the business I’m employed at.
The North Dakota legislature should look at this request and take it for the insult it is. They massively gave them more money last year and they’re rewarded with an even more unreasonable demand!
One thing I’d like to do is to summarize how much people make in the University system. We’re told they are vastly underpaid. I doubt that but without the numbers it’s hard to say. Does anyone know where that information is to be found. The citizens have a right to know what people are making when they’re told they need more money out of our pockets. I don’t want names, general information would be good enough.
