College Leaders Tell Concerns to Lawmakers

State government budget cuts have cost Mississippi’s colleges and universities almost 40 Million dollars. MPB’s Stephen Koranda reports on what this could mean to the schools.

The 5 percent reductions have some university heads concerned the quality of their education could be compromised. Claudia Limbert is president of the Mississippi University for Women.

“At MUW we do not have any graduate students ever teaching our classes, our professors teach our classes,” says Limbert. “That's why we have such quality there. I don’t want that to ever be eroded if possible.”

Heads of all 8 state universities told lawmakers how the cuts are affecting them, and asked for help in offsetting the reductions. Jackson State President Ronald Mason says the state’s colleges and universities are frequently highly ranked, often with fewer resources than similar institutions.

“We’ve never even reached the average level of funding compared to our competitors in the South,” says Mason. “If we can’t even strive to be average, then how do we talk about a commitment to quality universities in the state of Mississippi?”

The universities are important in driving the state’s large agricultural sector and attracting new business, says Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum.

“Any cuts that are made to our university or any university effects our return to the state,” says Keenum, “because for every dollar invested in higher education, we get many dollars more back to the citizens of Mississippi.”

The universities are pushing for a plan to receive small, but consistent annual increases in funding, to try and slow the rise in tuition.