President Arend D. Lubbers testified Wednesday before the Michigan House Appropriations Committee's Higher Ed Subcommittee. This was the first step in the legislative process following Governor Engler's recent budget proposal for the next fiscal year. The following is the president's testimony, delivered in Lansing.
Representative Caul and members of the subcommittee:
Among the questions you have asked of me is to describe the mission and future plans of my campus. Since I am an historian, I hope you will let me answer the question about the future by making a point about the past.
Grand Valley State University was born forty years ago of need: Grand Rapids, Holland and Muskegon, the state's second largest metropolitan area, did not have a locally based public college.
By responding to regional demand with access, high quality degree programs and value for the student, Grand Valley has become the state's fastest growing public university.
GVSU is selective about the students we admit. Our freshman profile is one of the best in the Midwest. In Michigan, only Michigan Tech and the University of Michigan have students with higher average test scores.
Yet, despite - or perhaps, because of - selective admission, GVSU has continued to grow.
In the past ten years, enrollment is up by nearly 60%. As we begin the new millennium, GVSU has students from every county in Michigan and from a dozen states and foreign countries as well.
The problem is that state funding, despite some recent generous annual increases, has not kept pace with our enrollment growth. And, despite the fact that the state established tier-funding groups, we have yet to be funded at the assigned level of $4,500 per FYES. That's why I have reacted so positively to the Governor's proposal. This proposal is equitable, our students deserve it and there shouldn't be any argument about their getting it.
This is the 32nd time that I've appeared before this committee. I always appreciate the opportunity to speak about Grand Valley. But before I finish today, I'd like to raise a policy question that will affect the presidents that follow me and the legislators that follow you. The question is this: does the state have an adequate policy for dealing with enrollment growth? The answer, I fear, is no.
Enrollment pressure is not to unique to Grand Valley. It is a statewide issue. That's because high school graduation rates, which had been going down, are now going up. Between now and 2008, national high school graduation rates will increase by at least 1% a year.
Women are going to college at higher rates than in past years. This places increasing pressure on schools like Grand Valley that offer programs which typically attract more women than men: such as nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy and education.
More students than ever before are graduating from high school in Michigan. More high school graduates are choosing to go to college. So here is the public policy question: are the citizens of Michigan who meet the qualifications entitled to attend a state-supported university? I believe the answer is yes. I also think that the Big-3 aren't likely to get much bigger. If you agree with me, then the scope of the problem is clear: Michigan's regional campuses will be expected to accommodate additional students --- but if the Legislature doesn't compensate those campuses for enrollment growth, the campuses will be not be able to admit very many additional students.
Enrollment pressure in the absence of offsetting appropriation produces one of two results: higher tuition; or, enrollment caps. Both of these outcomes are problematic to prospective students as well as to the job providers in our state. Students deserve access and opportunity, while employers need a steady stream of new graduates.
The way in which state government responds to this important policy question will affect every citizen of Michigan ¿ those who plan to attend college and those who do not. Let me illustrate by picking one of our academic programs: teacher education. The federal government says half of our nation's K-12 teachers will retire in the next ten years. If colleges cannot admit more students to their teacher education programs, how will the demand for new teachers in Michigan be met?
Universities cannot admit additional students, above our present enrollments, if all we have to support them with is tuition. Yet we know that more students than ever before will seek to be admitted to the public universities in the coming decade. This is not a problem that will solve itself. The answer, I submit, may well be found in the appropriations bill that you are getting ready to draft.
Thank you.
