Obama budget offers higher ed hope

I could almost hear the collective cheers from my fellow higher education leaders when President Obama included with his 2011 budget a promise to once again make our nation a world leader in new college graduates.

The president proposed several bold initiatives to that end. First, he requested a record $34.8 billion in Pell Grants, federal awards to low-income students whose families generally have an annual income below $45,000. Pell Grants are an important tool for providing access to education, especially for University of California students. UC enrolls more Pell Grant recipients, roughly a third of our undergraduates, than any selective research university in the country, public or private.

The president also would ease the burden of student loan repayment by reducing the maximum monthly payments from 15 percent of a borrower's income to no more than 10 percent. After 20 years, the loan balance would be forgiven. For those who go into public service, the loan would be forgiven in 10 years. That would be an enormous relief to graduates pursuing nonprofit, educational and government jobs, which typically pay lower salaries.

UC would also benefit from the proposed funding increases for biomedical, clean energy, sustainable climate systems and other scientific research, as well as the increased support for undergraduate and graduate students pursuing science, engineering and technology careers.

I applaud the president’s initiatives and will work with the administration and Congress to achieve his goal of making our nation first in college graduation by 2020. But I also think more attention has to be paid to building the capacity of universities to accommodate this expansion of opportunity through grants, loans, tax credits and research funding.

In planning for the future, simply increasing demand does not provide the places in American universities.

Across the country, public universities are feeling the strain of declining state support. In California for instance, budget cuts have led to sharp decreases in enrollment — with more to come. If California community colleges will be serving 250,000 fewer students, CSU 40,000 fewer students and UC 10,000 fewer over time, then the state and the nation will not reach our enrollment goals.

For that reason, I believe we must work together to find creative ways to expand the federal government's role in higher public education. The federal government already does much to further the goals of educational access and a national research agenda. Last year, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act came through with dollars to further both those goals at UC.

But there is room for an even more substantial federal role. Traditionally the nuts and bolts funding of public universities, which supports faculty and staff salaries, equips laboratories and maintains campus operations, has been left to the states. There has never been an integrated national strategy for higher education in the United States. There needs to be one now if we truly are to reach President Obama's goal of making our nation first in college graduation.

Here are just a few ideas that could be part of that strategy:

• Reward institutions that enroll large numbers of Pell Grant recipients with additional funding for core university services.
• Establish a Race to the Top competition for public universities and colleges to compete for federal funds based on meeting certain performance measurements.
• Supplement federal research grants with funds to expand graduate programs to train future faculty and researchers.

I'm sure there are many other ideas to explore and I welcome a lively debate. But we need to start now.

As G.K. Chesterton once observed, “Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.”

Let us work together to ensure safe passage.

Find out more about how you can support UC's funding goals at UC for California.

Contact me at president@ucop.edu.
Although I will read all your e-mails, I am not able to personally respond to every one. I encourage you to follow me on Facebook and Twitter, where you can share your ideas and look for answers to many of your questions.