Grapevine 2010: A Critical Juncture for Higher Education in the US

If you're trying to look deep into the crystal ball at the future of support for higher education from the state, the latest Grapevine* report will help clarify the situation, but it isn't pretty. And it seems like nearly everyone is expecting further cuts, not only in the current fiscal year but in the next one.

* Grapevine has compiled data on state tax support for higher education sinde 1960. This year, the Illinois State University's Center for the Study of Higher Education Policy (CSHEP), which manages Grapevine, has joined forces with SHEEO and folded in that organization's State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) project. The collected data is served up in a number of useful ways on the Welcome to Grapevine, Fiscal Year 2009-10 website.

Links

• Official Press Release (PDF)
• The full Grapevine report, Welcome to Grapevine, Fiscal Year 2009-10
• SHEEO president Paul Lingenfelter's statement, A Critical Juncture for Higher Education in the United States (PDF)
• Analysis by Eric Kelderman in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Stimulus Money Staved Off Deep Cuts in State Appropriations
• Analysis by Scott Jaschik of Inside Higher Ed, Historic Declines

Quoted from Lingenfelter:

In summary, the dimensions of the current financial and enrollment crisis are:

• More than 5% of FY 2010 appropriations are underwritten with federal stabilization funds that in many states are exhausted, or nearly so;
• State revenues have fallen at an unprecedented rate and a recovery will, at best, take many years according to the National Association of State Budget Officers; and
• Even with recent dramatic enrollment growth, current enrollments almost surely understate student demand, with many students who would otherwise enroll deterred by tuition increases and budget‐ driven enrollment caps and course cancellations.

But money and enrollment demand are not the only issues.

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Regional SCUP Events! Enjoy the F2F company of your colleagues and peers at one of three SCUP regional conferences this spring:

• March 14–16: Baltimore, MD
• March 24–26: Cambridge, MA
• April 5–7, San Diego, CA