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BY JEN CALANTONE

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Colleges and universities in New Jersey have spent about $14.5 million over a span of 10 years on lobbying the federal government, with Rutgers University dropping nearly $4 million between 2000 and 2009, according to records.

Other big-spenders include the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, spending $2.56 million and the New Jersey Institute of Technology at $2.25 million.

The information, compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, shows that this money is spent using both in-house lobbyists and outside firms.

"Taxpayer dollars are being spent to lobby for taxpayer dollars," said Dave Levinthal, the Center's spokesman to the Daily Record. "For some people, that may be distasteful. For others, it may be the cost of doing business."

Last week, Gov. Chris Christie pushed an executive order limiting the ability of state authorities, boards and commissions to hire lobbyists, the Daily Record reported. This does not apply to colleges and universities, which also spend money lobbying state officials in Trenton, the article said.

The issue of spending money on lobbying for education has caused a small outcry in recent years. Morris County Republican and Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll lamented Rutgers' spending in a 2007 interview with PolitickerNJ.

"Over the past several years, Rutgers has repeatedly come to the Legislature pleading poverty, complaining that spending cuts hurt students. Now, they spend $250,000 on what amounts to a lobbyist. That's almost $100,000 more than the Governor's authorized salary," Carroll said in 2007. "Rutgers should spend more on its students and less – actually, none – lobbying the Legislature."

Fourteen of 31 tax-supported colleges and universities in the state spent anywhere between the $20,000 fronted by New Jersey City University to the nearly $4 million that Rutgers spent.