Latest news with #Provencher
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
USNH says House-approved cut in state aid 'unsustainable'
Higher education administrators said the House-approved, $50 million cut in state aid to the University System of New Hampshire (USNH) is 'unsustainable' and risks tuition rate increases that could cause enrollments to plummet. USNH Chancellor Catherine Provencher said the cut would end six years of 'unprecedented support' from the state for the system that led last fall to the first increase in enrollment for the four-year colleges in more than a decade. 'This steep reduction is unsustainable for the university system,' Provencher told the Senate Finance Committee during a public hearing Friday afternoon. Responding to an intense lobbying effort on behalf of USNH, House Majority Floor Leader Joe Sweeney, R-Salem, said he filed a Right-to-Know Law request asking the system to identify how many foreign students attend the four-year public colleges and how many New Hampshire residents have been denied admission. During the presentation, Provencher and USNH board of trustees Chairman Michael J. Pilot didn't address the number of international students that attend USNH, but said for several years every New Hampshire resident who meets the minimum requirements has gained admission. Last year, 3,000 graduates from the system remained in the state with 80% of residents taking jobs in New Hampshire. 'About 20% of non-residents stay here. We need to keep New Hampshire students because they are much more likely to stay here and drive the workforce that all our employers need,' Provencher said. 'We have capacity if more students want to apply in state and out of state, we would welcome them.' The $50 million cut represents about a 30% reduction from the state aid in the current budget that ends June 30. Gov. Kelly Ayotte has proposed a 4% cut in state aid which Provencher said the system could withstand. Even with recent years of increased aid, New Hampshire continues to have the lowest level of state support for its public colleges and universities in the nation. Provencher said for comparison purposes, the $25 million reduction would be nearly a 5% cut of the $556 million that USNH receives in revenue to support educational programs. The rest of its budget is $221 million from room and board fees and $518 million the system receives from research grants that are '$1 in for $1 out,' Provencher said. Similar cut in 2011 House GOP leaders argued that the system received a similar cut in state aid in 2011 for the 2012-13 state budget and recovered from that. Provencher pointed out responding to that cut 14 years ago that the system trustees raised in-state tuition 19.5% in the first year and 13.5% in the second. 'No student would come ... if we even considered tuition increases at that level,' Provencher said. 'It would have to come, for the most part, from cuts and massive reductions.' USNH trustees have approved a tuition increase for New Hampshire residents of up to 2.5% in the coming academic year, she said. Both USNH officials stressed the system has undergone significant reorganization since 2019 to cope with declining numbers of available students and more competition from other schools as a result. They have cut full-time staff by 4.5% and part-time staff by 19% while twice increasing premiums paid by employees for their health insurance, Pilot said. Other changes include consolidating on all campus's procurement, human resources, accounting, finance and research administration. 'We have a system that is built for a market no longer available to us,' Pilot said. The chancellor and individual college presidents are working on a plan to make further budget adjustments to eliminate the structural deficit that would grow from $13 million in the current year to $58 million by 2030. 'USNH understands the landscape, it will right size and will continue to successfully manage through these real challenges, however, a steep reduction in the state's investment will be crippling during this period,' USNH officials said in the 15-page report to Senate budget writers. What's Next: The Senate Finance Committee has to recommend to the full Senate a two-year budget plan early next month. Prospects: The Senate is likely to restore much of the cut the House made beyond the 4% reduction Ayotte had proposed in February. klandrigan@
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Business coalition urges Senate to reject state aid cut to USNH
Business coalition fights proposed cut to four-year higher education system Mike Skelton, president and CEO of the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire organized a coalition of business leaders urging Senate budget writers to reject the House-approved state budget that cuts state aid to the University System of New Hampshire by about 30%. A coalition of business groups is urging Senate budget writers to restore $50 million cut by the House from state aid to the University System of New Hampshire. The Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire organized a Tuesday news conference meant to build momentum for the case that University System Chancellor Catherine Provencher and her team will make before the Senate Finance Committee on Friday. 'The funding of University System of New Hampshire is an investment in the future of our state's economy. USNH is a key partner that attracts talent to New Hampshire and prepares them to join our workforce and help our economy grow,' said BIA President and CEO Mike Skelton. 'While we understood this state budget cycle would be challenging, the proposed House cuts to the University System go too far and would harm our state's economic competitiveness.' The University System's four-year schools are the University of New Hampshire, Plymouth State University and Keene State College. Several speakers said the Senate should adopt the revenue estimates that Gov. Kelly Ayotte used when she presented her budget proposal two months ago. The House used a much lower revenue forecast — $700 million less from state taxes and fees for the two-year budget cycle that would run through June 2027. 'The revenue projections and USNH funding levels proposed in Governor Ayotte's budget are a realistic and pragmatic path forward that will allow USNH to continue as the business community's partner in attracting and developing our workforce of the future," Skelton said. USNH Chancellor Provencher said the House budget represents a 30% cut — $57.6 million less than current levels of state aid. 'Despite real headwinds in higher education caused by the declining number of high school graduates and intense competition in New England, for the first time since 2013, the number of in-state New Hampshire students attending USNH institutions increased, in part because of the state's investment to keep tuition down,' Provencher said. Tuition has remained unchanged for the past six years. USNH trustees have already announced that there will be an increase in tuition next year. House Republican budget writers maintain the state aid cut represents about a 2% reduction for a system that has annual revenue of more than $1 billion. They also point out that lawmakers made a similarly sized cut in 2011 to cope with a major real estate recession. Provencher said the system annually attracts nearly 13,000 potential future leaders and members of the workforce to come and study in New Hampshire. 'We as a state should not be gutting the investment in USNH when we have the opportunity to grow and attract businesses in the life sciences, advanced manufacturing and other innovative spaces,' Provencher said. The New Hampshire College and University Council is scheduled to release a study on the economic impact of higher education later Wednesday. Mica Stark, the council's president and CEO, said the University System system contributes $7.6 billion to the state's economy and supports 52,000 jobs. UNIQUE resource The coalition opposed the decision of House budget writers to claim as state aid $15 million in the UNIQUE college scholarship program managed for the state by Fidelity. Business coalition lobbies against cutting USNH aid University System of New Hampshire Chancellor Catherine Provencher will make her case to the Senate Finance Committee Friday against the House approved state budget that cuts the request of Gov. Kelly Ayotte by $50 million over the next two years. This year the program provided more than 7,700 scholarships. Since UNIQUE's inception in 1997 it has provided $213 million in financial aid to students. Edwin Gutierrez-Nunez, a sophomore at Franklin Pierce University, a private college in Rindge, said he's the first in his family to attend college as the son of immigrants from Mexico who work as housekeepers in Nashua. 'UNIQUE is a major reason why I attend college. My family can't afford tuition without these scholarship funds. Taking direct scholarship aid funds to balance a state budget is wrong, and it sends a terrible message to young people about the priorities of this state and its leaders,' Gutierrez-Nunez said. Bill Greiner, chairman of the board at Primary Bank, said these reductions would be shortsighted. 'The proposed cuts, especially to higher education, are wholly unnecessary and will only blunt the hard work our businesses and our citizens are doing every single day to build and maintain a strong statewide economy." Corinne Benfield, executive director of Stay Work Play NH, said a well-supported state college and university system is critical to convincing young people to remain in New Hampshire and pursue a career. 'If we aren't funding our educational system we risk falling behind; the message is that we don't care to compete,' Benfield said. She said USNH created Stay Work Play in 2009 when more than 50% of Granite State college graduates were leaving the state. Since then, the percentage of graduates remaining here is 'hovering around 60%,' Benfield said. 'It's progress, but this doesn't solve our problem, which is that the workforce gap has grown significantly," she added. Others who took part in Tuesday's event were executives with the chambers of commerce in Manchester, Nashua and Portsmouth, and officials with New Hampshire Life Sciences, Granite Edvance, Primary Bank and the New Hampshire Tech Alliance. klandrigan@
