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BY DARRYL G. GREER

COMMENTARY

There is widespread opinion, among higher education leaders and public policy analysts nationally, that the current, long-standing model for public funding of public colleges and universities is severely broken. The model that seemed to work so well in a great many states, for decades during the latter half of the 20th century, seems now, even with an anticipated economic recovery, to need much more than just a lube or a tune-up. It needs a thorough reengineering to achieve the promise of college opportunity. This is especially true in New Jersey, where 80% of all college students are in the public sector.

Fundamental change is needed to get New Jersey on a track to retain more of its precious human resources and to achieve economic prosperity for all citizens. The state that leads all others in college preparation cannot afford to continue to lead the nation in net loss of college-bound students to other states. Governor-elect Chris Christie seems to understand this; it was part of his final campaign push, and it underpins one of his campaign commitments.

Moving forward, it is unproductive to focus too much blame for the breakdown of a rationale for financing public colleges on the current economic downturn. Public disinvestment in the programmatic and facilities needs of public colleges has been an ongoing trend for two decades, principally because of high demand from other priority entitlements, high state debt burden, and limits revenue on tax. Even sacrosanct student financial aid programs suffer from rationing — meaning spreading limited money to more students.

The promising news is that new leadership coming to the governor's office appears to have a strong grasp of the fundamental role that public higher education can play in expanding opportunity, creating jobs, growing the economy, and making New Jersey a better place to grow up, and remain. Incoming legislative leaders, too, have shown they have an understanding of these critical dynamics.

Beyond what we may expect of these leaders, there is promise in the fact that the typical New Jersey citizen cares about public higher education as an important part of the future. We know the public believes that it is important to keep colleges accessible and affordable from the responses we received to questions asked in a recent (October 2009) public opinion poll of 670 likely voters. We are also seeing stirrings of a grassroots movement in support of public higher education, exemplified by the fact that enrollment in our statewide advocacy program, www.njcollegepromise.com, recently surged beyond 5,000.

Even with the staggering financial challenges facing our new governor, there are things that can be done to help state colleges and universities stay strong during a period of very high demand and very limited state resources. To name a few:

• The state can free up the colleges from unproductive regulation to innovate and to help improve productivity. Our poll showed that many likely voters, accurately, attributed increased tuition costs to state disinvestment and regulation. Conversely, they place much more confidence in nonpartisan trustee boards and presidents than in Trenton for effective financial stewardship. State colleges face burdensome regulations and millions of dollars in unfunded state mandates that tie their hands in contracting, purchasing, construction, personnel management and that drain time, energy and money that can be used to improve service and accountability. The more we do to free up the colleges to be directly accountable, and without being choked by Trenton's red tape, the greater will be the benefit to students, public service and transparency.
• The colleges and universities can continue to use their freedom to improve productivity, keep costs in check to preserve college affordability, and build new programs prudently to serve the state. At the same time, the institutions can continue eliminating unproductive programs, recruit the best faculty and staff, raise private monies to support student financial aid and new technology, and continue to improve as national models for excellence, accountability and ethical best practices. They can expand partnerships with business, schools, labor and local communities to broaden college access and to keep talented citizens here. Through the New Jersey College Promise and Nine Strong for a Stronger New Jersey projects, the colleges have already pledged to accomplish these goals.
• The state should fund state-mandated costs such as labor contracts it negotiates, or eliminate such unfunded mandates. The state should follow the state mandate-state pay principles it follows for local government. Where the law requires that free service be extended to certain citizens, the state should simply reimburse the institutions in full for these costs.
• The state and its universities can create, immediately, a blue-ribbon study panel to examine the infrastructure needs of the state's public colleges. The panel should review different funding models, especially private partnerships to meet the growing needs for construction and preservation of campus buildings. Such funding models should converge with overall state needs. This group or another can be charged, too, to recommend how to extend the power of university research and professional education, in partnership with business and government, to discover improvements in the fields of teaching, nursing, environmental sustainability and transportation, all very important to New Jersey's future.

This list is not exhaustive, but it is a start. We need a new 21st century model for higher education investment, innovation, service and accountability — one that is equitable and sustainable for all funding partners, one that enhances college access, affordability and achievement; and one that uses the assets, know-how and energy of public higher education to serve the broader public good. The Garden State can, and should, lead the nation on these important goals.

Darryl G. Greer, Ph. D., is the CEO of the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities, a nonprofit higher education association created by the State Legislature in 1985 to advance and support public higher education in New Jersey. Its nine member-institutions now serve 98,000 students annually. The members are: The College of New Jersey, Kean University, Montclair State University, New Jersey City University, Ramapo College of New Jersey, Richard Stockton College, Rowan University, Thomas Edison State College and William Paterson University. Greer is a resident of Pennington.