WASHINGTON ? Illinois State University President Al Bowman says President Barack Obama's proposal to tie federal support to tuition controls is a product of "fuzzy math." His counterpart at the University of Washington calls it little more than "political theater."
Obama's plan to force colleges and universities to contain tuition or face losing federal dollars, spelled out Friday during a speech at the University of Michigan, concerned education leaders worried about the threat of government overreach. From presidents of public universities frustrated with ever-increasing state budget cuts affecting their schools' bottom line, it brought some particularly sharp words.
The reality, says Bowman, is that deficits in many public schools can't be easily overcome with simple modifications. He says he was happy to hear Obama call for state-level support of public universities, but given the decreases in state aid, tying federal support to tuition prices is a product of fuzzy math.
Illinois has decreased public support for higher education by about a third over the past decade when adjusted for inflation. Illinois State University, with 21,000 students, has raised tuition almost 47 percent since 2007 ? from $6,150 a year for an in-state undergraduate student to $9,030.
"Most people, including the president, assume if universities were simply more efficient they would be able to operate with much smaller state subsidies, and I believe there are certainly efficiency gains that can be realized," Bowman said. "But they pale in comparison to the loss in state support."
Bowman said the undergraduate experience can be made cheaper, but there are trade-offs.
"You could hire mostly part-time, adjunct faculty. You could teach in much larger lecture halls, but the things that would allow you achieve the greatest levels of efficiency would dilute the product and would make it something I wouldn't be willing to be part of," he said.
University of Washington President Mike Young said Obama showed he did not understand how the budgets of public universities work.
Young said the total cost to educate college students in Washington state, which is paid for by both tuition and state government dollars, has actually gone down because of efficiencies on campus. While universities are tightening costs, the state is cutting their subsidies and authorizing tuition increases to make up for the loss.
"They really should know better," Young said. "This really is political theater of the worst sort."
Obama's plan must be approved by Congress, where it could face a tough road to passage among gridlocked lawmakers.
Earlier in the week, during his State of the Union address, Obama described meeting with university presidents who told of ways some universities were curtailing costs through technology and redesigning courses to help students finish more quickly. He said more schools need to take such steps.
On Friday, Obama said higher education has become an imperative for success in America, but the cost has grown unrealistic for too many families and the debt burden unbearable. He said states should also properly fund colleges and universities.
"We are putting colleges on notice," Obama told an arena packed with cheering students. "You can't assume that you'll just jack up tuition every single year. If you can't stop tuition from going up, then the funding you get from taxpayers each year will go down."
Obama is targeting only a small part of the financial aid picture ? the $3 billion known as campus-based aid that flows through college administrators to students. He is proposing to increase that amount to $10 billion and change how it is distributed to reward schools that hold down costs and ensure that more poor students complete their education.
The bulk of the more than $140 billion in federal grants and loans goes directly to students and would not be affected.
The average in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges this school year rose 8.3 percent and with room and board now exceed $17,000 a year, according to the College Board.
Rising tuition costs have been attributed to a variety of factors, among them a decline in state dollars and competition for the best facilities and professors. Critics say some higher education institutions are attempting to wait out the economic downturn and have been too reluctant to make large-scale changes that would cut costs such as offering three-year degree programs.
Washington's leverage to take on the rising cost of college is limited because American higher education is decentralized, with most student aid following the student.
The response to Obama's plan wasn't all negative. Many university presidents said they welcome a conversation about making college more affordable and efficient.
In Missouri, where Gov. Jay Nixon has proposed a 12.5 percent funding cut for higher education in the coming fiscal year, Obama's proposal could put even more pressure on public colleges and universities to limit tuition increases. By state law, schools must limit such increases to the annual inflation rate unless they receive permission for larger hikes. Nixon has warned schools that he doesn't want to see a tuition increase of more than 3 percent, the latest Consumer Price Index increase.
"The president's message isn't inconsistent with the agenda that we've been pursuing here in Missouri," said Paul Wagner, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Higher Education. "It's good to see him put the focus on the same things."
Obama also wants to create a "Race to the Top" competition in higher education similar to the one his administration used on lower grades. He wants to encourage states to make better use of higher education dollars in exchange for $1 billion in prize money.
Obama is also pushing for more tools to help students determine which colleges and universities have the best value.
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Associated Press writers Ben Feller and Julie Pace in Washington, Jim Kuhnhenn and David Runk in Ann Arbor, Mich., David Mercer in Champaign, Ill., Alan Zagier in Columbia, Mo., Alex Dominguez in Baltimore, Dorie Turner in Atlanta, and Donna Gordon Blankinship in Seattle contributed to this report.
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