ASU president Michael Crow addresses The State Press editorial board during a meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014. (Andrew Ybanez/The State Press)Although Gov. Doug Ducey's budget proposal, announced Friday, will effectively cut $75 million from Arizona's public university funding, ASU students should not expect a tuition increase.
The Arizona Board of Regents said this cut will require creativity to maintain the quality of higher education in the state.
With a projected budget deficit of $159.6 million this fiscal year, cuts were not an question, but a certainty."The budget I released today promotes educational excellence, demands fiscal responsibility and advances economic opportunity," Ducey said in a statement. "It prioritizes wisely, cutting back on bureaucracy while protecting our core functions – educating our students, supporting child safety and public safety, protecting our taxpayers and modernizing state government.”
Despite the cuts, ASU President Michael Crow, UA President Ann Weaver Hart and NAU President Rita Cheng believe students will not see an increase in four-year tuition, focusing their efforts on ensuring higher education remains affordable.
“There will be no in-state tuition increase for in-state students, graduate or undergraduate, at Arizona State University. Period,” Crow said.
Crow said the public universities play an important role within the local and state economy, and that role will only increase with time.
“The universities are a unique asset to the state," Crow said. "They are absolutely, unequivocally unique. This strategic asset is now ranked, according to the cuts, as the lowest priority in the allocation of the budget model being presented. That’s just out of alignment to me and it will require some substantial discussion.”
The Board of Regents stressed the magnitude of budget shaving and drastic cuts that had already been made to their budgets, especially as the general fund appropriations for Arizona's public universities has decreased by 11.7 percent since 1979.
Despite the challenges, Board President Eileen Klein said it is very important not to place financial pressure on university students, and instead work within the system to adapt to this new financial climate. “While there are many complex issues involved in delivering a balanced budget to Arizona citizens, defunding our universities is not a sustainable solution to our state’s economic challenges,” Klein said.
Reach the reporter at megan.janetsky@asu.edu or follow @meganjanetsky on Twitter.
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