THEC to ask General Assembly for additional $78 million
Higher education leaders said during a meeting Thursday that a portion of the extra money — about $33.5 million — will go toward need-based financial aid so thousands of poor students can pay for college.
The rest of the nearly $45 million will be used for other priorities that fall outside the basic operating funds, officials said.
THEC, which oversees state colleges and universities, plans to ask for the same amount campuses are receiving this school year to pay for basic needs, which is about $1.12 billion.
However, Comptroller John Morgan, a commission member, feels the money for new initiatives could be better spent on basic needs.
Even if campuses get the same $1.12 billion next year, he said, they’ll fall well short of what the state’s higher education funding formula says they need.
“Starting new initiatives when we can’t fund what we say is the need, that causes me concern,” Morgan said.
But THEC executive director Rich Rhoda said the governor’s office asked for a base budget request at the same level as this year’s funding. He said asking for the additional money is the best way to “make specific things happen.”
If the Legislature grants THEC’s requests next session, community colleges and technology centers will need to raise tuition 5 percent and universities will go up 13 percent to give each campus 6 percent more revenue next year.
But Russ Deaton, THEC’s director of fiscal analysis, said the agency isn’t recommending those tuition increases at this point.
Also Thursday, the commission heard a report on the state’s new lottery-funded HOPE Scholarship program for qualified Tennessee high school graduates.
Almost $45 million in lottery revenues has been sent to Tennessee schools to cover about 30,000 students’ tuition and fees this fall, according to the report.
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On the Net:
Tennessee Higher Education Commission: http://www.state.tn.us/thec
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Information from: The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com