Investment in the university is an investment in Minnesota's economy - and its future
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Last month, the Minnesota Legislature adjourned without passing a state budget. Like most Minnesotans, I am personally discouraged by the gridlock at the Capitol.
Every year, whether state funding increases or decreases, the University of Minnesota approves a balanced budget. We address rising health care, energy and other costs with reductions, reallocations and efficiencies; we rely on tuition to solve only a fraction (approximately one-third) of each budget challenge; and we continue to find creative ways to grow new revenues, invest in emerging academic fields and ensure affordable access for our students.
As a result, Minnesota has a land-grant and research university that continues to attract and keep many of the state's best students from all socioeconomic backgrounds -- and, despite consecutive years of deep state budget cuts (both in the 2010-2011 biennium and expected in the 2012-2013 biennium), has kept the average annual increase in the net price Minnesota students pay to attend the university at less than 3.5 percent per year for the past decade.
It is no doubt tempting to look at the magnitude of Minnesota's budget deficit, then to see the university outperforming expectations despite deep state cuts in 2003-04 and 2010-11, and assume that it will continue to thrive under heavy pruning in the coming biennium. But the reality is that, although state support is now less than 20 percent of the university's total budget, it is the foundation for all of our other revenue -- much of which is dedicated by funding agencies or donors and cannot be used for day-to-day operations.
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Investing in the university is investing in Minnesota's economy. University operations support more than 79,000 jobs in Minnesota, and fewer than a quarter of those jobs are faculty and staff. We also support student employees, fellows, graduate assistants, postdocs, health professionals and more than 37,000 additional contractors, external service providers and other workers across the state.
The university's research enterprise successfully competed for $823 million in sponsored research funding last year, supporting more than 16,000 jobs -- many in the private sector -- and generating $1.5 billion in total economic activity.
And none of this addresses our most important contribution: the roughly 14,000 degrees we grant each year in critical fields of study and professional practice. Most of these graduates choose to stay in Minnesota, providing an educated and globally competitive workforce.
The loss of state support, temporarily or permanently, will be a challenge for the university. The university operates on a year-round basis and has educational obligations to summer-session students and contractual obligations to numerous external funders. As a result, we must remain open for business. On Monday, the Board of Regents approved a provisional budget resolution so that the university can continue to deliver on its mission despite the stalemate at the Capitol and the possibility of a shutdown.
We are confident that we can manage through any short-term disruption without harming day-to-day operations -- but I urge state leaders to complete their work quickly and reduce the proposed deep cuts to the university's budget for 2012 and 2013. Without state investment, our academic quality declines, our facilities deteriorate and promising students and faculty look elsewhere. As a result, our ability to compete for federal research funding declines.
Without the promise of new students and new discoveries, our private donors invest in other partners. Without state investment, we lose our momentum and erode our ability to spark economic growth and improve Minnesota's quality of life. If we are not Minnesota's priority, we will be no one else's.
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Robert H. Bruininks is president of the University of Minnesota. After nine years in office, he is stepping down next week to return to teaching and research.
