Colleges Want No Repeat of the Last Recession’s Cuts – Inside Higher Ed
Colleges are urging Congress in the next stimulus package to push states to avoid cuts.
During the last recession more than a decade ago, states slashed about $33 billion in funding for the nation’s colleges and universities from 2008 to 2012. The cuts were so bad that even though states have been gradually spending more on higher education since then, a recent study found colleges have gotten back only about two-thirds of the state funding per student they lost.
So as House Democrats work on another massive coronavirus relief package, and states are again being forced to slash their budgets, a major emphasis for lobbyists representing colleges is to try to prevent a repeat of the devastating state cuts of the last recession.
Though it faces opposition in the Republican Senate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said a major priority for the Democrats’ proposal, expected next week, is to give states billions in federal aid as they reel from the financial hit caused by the pandemic. Her home state, California, announced Thursday it has a $54.3 billion budget deficit, which is the equivalent of a little more than a third of its entire budget.
As first reported by Inside Higher Ed Thursday, the Democratic proposal will include additional money for higher education, in addition to funding for states in the hopes of lessening budget cuts, not only for education but other services.