Haas testifies to lawmakers

Grand Valley State University President Thomas J. Haas had a clear message to lawmakers when he testified before the Senate Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee.

The hearing was held at Calvin College's Bunker Interpretive Center on Friday, April 27. Haas' testimony follows.


Chairman Stamas and members of the subcommittee:

It's an honor to be here today, and to meet you. I'm the new guy - new to Grand Valley, but not to public higher education, which has been my career for nearly 30 years. I want to thank President Byker for hosting your hearing in Grand Rapids. While Grand Rapids isn't always thought of as a college town, it really is: there are more than 40,000 students attending our city's colleges and universities. This is a community that values higher education, and supports it.

I appear before you today in what may be the worst state budget crisis in three decades. Our state finds itself in uncharted waters with deeply divergent philosophies about how to fix it. But about this there is no disagreement: higher education is the key to the knowledge economy of the 21st century. Low skill, high paying jobs are gone and aren't coming back. As Winston Churchill said, the empires of the future are the empires of the mind.

College graduates will earn a million dollars more in their lifetimes than those with just a high school education. College graduates will have more career choices, experience less unemployment, and need fewer social services. For a government that is cash-strapped, college graduates are the best hope for the future.

So, forgive me if I raise candid questions about what is happening in Lansing because we are getting wildly conflicting signals from our state policy makers. The Governor and Lt. Governor have urged the universities to admit additional students, which Grand Valley has done. But your colleagues in the House, in advancing their own list of budget cuts, voted to cut the most from the campuses that have admitted additional students. If those cuts stand, the House will have essentially repealed the Cherry Commission report. Meanwhile, the Senate voted for a minimum- per-student funding level, but left the students at Grand Valley - and Grand Valley alone -- millions of dollars below it. Needless to say, we are very perplexed by these inconsistencies.

It doesn't help that the universities themselves are caught up in debating the question of whether the appropriations act should be unified or split 3 and 12. This is the wrong question to spend time on -- and it is diverting attention from the right one. Instead, we should be talking about how to enhance collaboration among all 15 campuses, because collaboration will help our economy the most.

Let me respectfully pose some questions for you to think about. Your answers will help get a more useful discussion started:

• What is the state's obligation to Michigan residents who want to obtain a college degree? If they meet entrance qualifications, are they entitled to be admitted to one of Michigan's public universities?
  
• Once admitted, what is the state's financial obligation to those students? What is the percentage of one's college education that should be funded by the state? What is the proper ratio of tuition to state aid? What is the proper tuition burden on students and their families?
  
• If the state is unable to adjust university appropriations for enrollment above present numbers, should the Legislature expect that the public campuses can continue to allow enrollment growth?

If we are to continue to offer access and program growth in high demand areas, we need a dependable, predictable, and sustainable partnership with the State of Michigan. We don't have that kind of partnership at the moment. When Lansing's priorities and commitments change every few months, it is very hard for the universities to know how to respond.

So, we are doing the best we can with mixed messages and decreased funding. At Grand Valley, our tuition rate places us 12th among Michigan's 15 campuses. Our rate of change in the past six years is less than the national, Midwest, and state averages. For a dozen years in a row, Grand Valley has been named one the country's 100 Best College Buys, the only Michigan campus to receive this designation. In every year that we have increased tuition, we have increased financial aid by at least the same amount. Access is a core value at Grand Valley.

In the past six years, our cost of operation per student has matched inflation; we've done an exceptional job of controlling our costs. We've established this enviable record while receiving the lowest appropriation per student, 15 out of 15, for more than a decade.

I also want you to know about the return on your investment in our university. 97% of our most recent graduates are in graduate school or employed. (20% in graduate school and 77% employed).and of those employed, 88% are working right here in Michigan.

Let me leave you with a final question, and also a commitment from me to you. First, the question: is higher education a public investment or a private benefit? I'm emphatic about the answer: higher education is a public good. It must be accessible to all who qualify to seek a college degree.

Now, the commitment. Like you, I am a steward of the public's trust. This holds me accountable for fiscal management and for positive outcomes - the quality of our programs and the skills of our graduates. Those are the measures by which I expect to be judged. And I accept that responsibility.

Michigan has a long history of supporting higher education. Our Constitution holds out a promise to our fellow citizens - that knowledge and education, essential to a civilized society, are to be forever encouraged and available. Their future is in your hands.