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Some student scholarships may be on the line as Utah colleges grapple with a proposed funding cut that would erase nearly 70 percent of their collective budget.
Doing away with partial tuition breaks for students from other states, athletes, military members and others, a legislative report for higher education budget committee found, is one way the state could conserve cash if a proposal passes to cut higher education out of the income tax revenue pool it currently shares with K-12 schools.
But tossing or reducing a system-wide $100 million in waivers — with more than half going to students from outside Utah — could backfire, noted higher education commissioner David Buhler.
"You might actually lose more than you save," Buhler said after the Higher Education Appropriations meeting, because the waivers draw students that would not otherwise enroll in the Beehive State.
Extending in-state tuition to students from outside Utah helped Utah's eight public schools cope with a dip in enrollment after the Mormon church in 2012 allowed male missionaries to depart at 18, instead of 19, and women at 19, instead of 21. The Legislature approved the move in 2013.
Non-Utahns aren't the only ones who benefit. Senior citizens, teachers and top students who qualify for merit scholarships also receive help, from a few hundred dollars to the full cost.
Across the system, growth still is flat. Utah's tuition is among the nation's lowest, averaging about $6,000 a year. But it has continued to rise, going up last year by 3 percent for most students.
Some lawmakers fear it could skyrocket this year under the pending proposal to boost public education funding from Salt Lake City Sen. Jim Dabakis. The tweak to Utah's Constitution, which requires approval from both lawmakers and Utah voters, threatens to drain tax revenue from colleges and funnel the money to K-12 education. Last year, the fund provided $580 million of the Utah System of Higher Education's budget — 68 percent, according to Buhler.
Dabakis on Wednesday said he would "cut my right hand off" before ushering the bill through the Legislature without a companion stopgap measure to make up the difference for Utah colleges and universities.
No additional language has been filed. Dabakis said he was planning to pitch to House Republicans a 1 percent sales tax hike.
Without the lifeline, the measure drew tepid reaction from both Democratic and Republican colleagues Wednesday.
"I'm very skeptical," said Stephen Urquhart, chairman of the budget committee over higher education, adding he was waiting to hear more specifics but was haunted by the idea of raising tuition. "I don't think our citizens are in the mood for a tax increase."
Holladay Rep. Carol Spackman Moss also was uneasy.
"I don't believe we should pit higher ed against public ed," said the former high school teacher, a Democrat. "I think we should look at education as a K-20. I see it as part of the whole picture."
Gov. Gary Herbert on Friday told the governing board over Utah's schools that he had concerns about the proposal, but stopped short of condemning it.
"If we take you out of the income tax bucket," the state would have to make up the money elsewhere, the Republican told the Utah Board of Regents. "It's just how you move the chess pieces around the board."
Dabakis unveiled the proposal last week, noting that Utah's per-student public education funding is lowest in the country. It's time to undo a 1996 Utah law that allowed colleges to share in the income tax revenue, he said, that now is leaving the schools hurting.
The Legislature's higher education committee is expected to review the tuition waivers again Friday.
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