Utah bill remaking higher ed clears hurdle

SALT LAKE CITY — The sponsor of the school "reallocation/strategic reinvestment" legislation that's gleaned attention for months calls Utah's system of public college and universities "a huge blessing" to the state's students and citizens.

But there's room for improvement.

During her presentation Friday to the House Education Committee, Rep. Karen Peterson, R-Clinton, said HB265 asks a fundamental question: "How do we make a good system better."

In the end, the bill prompted fairly limited debate from committee members and the public. By majority vote, the committee passed along the bill for an eventual vote on the House floor.

Friday's successful presentation may have moved at a speedy clip, but Peterson's Higher Education Strategic Reinvestment bill evolved slowly.

There were "months and months" of conversation and collaborations between lawmakers, the state's higher education leaders and institution presidents, noted Peterson.

A few key developments in recent years were catalysts for HB265.

First, said Peterson, the state's higher education budgets — including tuition and state appropriations — have almost doubled over the past decade.

The student population over the same period did not experience commensurate growth. Meanwhile, administrative costs at Utah's colleges have jumped.

Given those trends, Peterson and other lawmakers asked the school presidents and the state's higher education leaders to examine two guiding questions:

First, are the programs in the state's higher education system still meeting the needs of both students and the state?

And second, are there opportunities to cut some administrative costs and low-performing programs — and then reinvest those savings in programs that may have high capacity, long waiting lists or high industry demand in Utah.

Strategic reinvestment

House Bill 265 begins by establishing a strategic reinvestment fund.

The state's base budget approved by the House earlier this week removed $60 million from the combined budgets of Utah's eight degree-granting colleges and universities. As expected, the amount "cut" from each institution's state appropriation was different — a nod, in part, to each school's unique size and mission.

The state's flagship school, the University of Utah, for example, had $19.5 million pulled from its budget. The regional Southern Utah University had $3.1 million pulled. And the state's largest two-year institution, Salt Lake Community College, had $5.2 million pulled.

But the dollars cut from each school's budget are not necessarily lost.

The fiscal amount pulled from each school's budget, explained Peterson, remains earmarked for that school "with the opportunity for them to have all those funds back as they work through a (reallocation) process."

The appropriation dollars pulled from the schools' budgets were moved to Utah Board of Higher Education, where it will go through an iterative process as each college or university develops their respective strategic reinvestment plans.

The institutions will then bring those plans to the board and then the Legislature to have those funds reallocated.

Peterson expects the institutions to begin presenting their plans to the board in July for approval, before moving them on to the Legislature.

"We'll see those plans in higher education appropriations in August, according to the bill, and then the Executive Appropriations Committee will have a chance to review those and then release the funds back to the institutions for them to execute on those plans."

Reallocation criteria

As institutions begin building their respective reallocation plans, they will evaluate factors such as enrollment, high-demand programs and job outcomes of graduates of specific programs "and then decide where they need to invest more — and where they don't," said Peterson.

The schools will also be looking at institutional structures and inefficiencies — seeking opportunities to, say, combine colleges or administrative positions.

"We're going to give (school presidents) the flexibility to make sure this matches their campus and their role and mission within our system," assured Peterson.

The second part of HB265 limits bachelor's degrees to no more than 120 credit hours — with an exception that they can go up to 126 with board approval if they require accreditation or licensing.

Peterson noted that some degree programs have started to creep up to 140 credit hours.

The bill also tasks the Legislature to look at performance funding.

The state already has a uniform performance model — but the same model is used for every institution.

"It's time for us to have a conversation about those performance metrics and really think thoughtfully about what we want each of these colleges and universities to do within our system and how we reward them — especially for completions of students and getting students through their programs," said Peterson.

Ensuring higher ed's high ROI

During Friday's committee meeting, Utah's commissioner of higher education, Geoffrey Landward saluted the Legislature and its ongoing investment in the state's higher education system.

"We also recognize, as a system, that we don't have unlimited resources for higher education, and we bear a significant stewardship as a board for these resources," said Landward.

"Every dollar appropriated to higher education we recognize is $1 that's not being appropriated to K-12 or social services or infrastructure," he said."Knowing that, and feeling the weight of that responsibility, means that we have to ensure that every single dollar that is invested in higher education, whether that's from the legislature or the students who are paying tuition, provides significant value to the students and to the state."

Landward noted that the budget reallocations outlined in HB265 allow for a reasonable reallocation approach, "not catastrophic adjustments."

The bill also provides institution presidents with the discretion that they need to craft a reinvestment plan within a matrix of several criteria — rather than a single formulaic approach.

There are also strategic allowances for nuances, such as the demand for durable skills that can come from general education and the liberal arts.

The bill also allows for a "teach out" period where students who are already enrolled in a degree program won't be impacted by possible program cuts.

"We will continue our work as a system," Landward concluded, "to try and ensure that the students who attend our institutions — and the taxpayers who support our institutions — are getting the very best and highest value."

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