ISSUE: Higher education in S.C.

OUR VIEW: State, institutions, students all have a lot at stake

South Carolina State University's president says the institution will expand recruitment of students other than African-Americans in an effort to keep the school growing and prosperous in the face of funding cuts. Dr. George Cooper is not alone among higher education leaders in looking for ways to accomplish institutional missions as revenue declines and cost to students increases.

The challenges are many -- and the worst may be yet to come even with prospects of federal stimulus money aiding higher education and the students being educated at colleges and universities. On Thursday, a state House panel approved restoring to higher education most of the funding lost to cutbacks over the past year. The move is a necessary to be eligible for the federal dollars.

But it won't change the long-standing debate in South Carolina about support for higher education. The amount of state funding has been criticized as inadequate by higher education proponents even as critics say the state is supporting too many schools.

Some facts as reported by The (Columbia) State:

* The median annual tuition and required fees for full-time, in-state students in South Carolina in 2005-06 were $8,065, according to the Southern Regional Education Board.

* That cost is 52 percent higher than the average in 15 other states in the region and 37 percent higher than the national average.

* By contrast, South Carolina ranks 36th in the nation in per-capita state spending on higher education for 2008, according to the Center for Education Policy at Illinois State University. Florida is the only state in the South to rank lower, at 39th.

With the prospect over time of more state spending cuts for education, South Carolina leaders must take a look at priorities. Will students be required to pick up more and more of the cost of higher education? At what cost to the state's future? At what cost to the state's competitiveness with others?

A group of college students came to the Statehouse this past week to tell lawmakers they are making a mistake in continuing to put education on the chopping block. They made a plea for state funding for their institutions -- while at the same time taking the institutions' positions that the idea of a state-mandated cap on tuition is a bad idea.

Their argument: If tuition is capped and state funding is cut further, the institutions will be forced to reduce services and offerings that are vital to educating South Carolina's future leaders.

The response from Gov. Mark Sanford's spokesman Joel Sawyer: "If you can't afford to go to school, all the quality in the world won't matter a hill of beans."

Therein is the dilemma. Tuition is already soaring to the point where more and more South Carolinians will be unable to seek higher education. At the same time, the state is in a pinch for dollars.

There is no silver bullet that will provide a solution palatable for everyone, not even the federal stimulus money.

As Cooper is doing at S.C. State, institutions must look for alternatives to tuition and state funds. Assistance from alumni and private sources is essential. Recruiting students and finding creative ways to help them afford to attend increasingly will be necessary.

At the same time, colleges and universities must look closely at offerings and opportunities for students. Setting priorities based on institutional mission and enrollment prospects is even more important in tight times. Some programs should and will go.

Students must take a long look at priorities, too. If higher education is in the cards, what type will it be? Is the objective a four-year degree, a two-year degree or an education that will provide immediate workplace skills. In some instances, it will be what is affordable. In others, it will be making difficult but necessary choices about the future at an increasingly young age.

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