Arizona tops nation in college cuts, tuition hikes

Arizona has put a tighter squeeze on university students than any other state in recent years, making the deepest cuts to higher-education spending coupled with the steepest tuition hikes since the Great Recession, according to a new national report.

And the state earned that distinction even before Gov. Doug Ducey and the Legislature this year cut $99 million from universities, $19 million from community colleges, and the Arizona Board of Regents responded with another round of tuition hikes.

According to the report released Tuesday night by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Arizona is spending 47 percent less this year per college student than it did in 2008, adjusted for inflation. That's a larger percentage cut than any other state, equating to $3,053 less annually per student.

Louisiana is next, spending 42 percent less. The national average was a 20 percent cut.

"For the state of Arizona, cuts to higher education have been quite severe, increasing costs for students and jeopardizing access and affordability," said study co-author Michael Mitchell.

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In response to the cuts, universities and community colleges have raised tuition and fees. According to the report, Arizona has seen the greatest tuition increases, rising 83.6 percent, or $4,734 per student, after adjusting for inflation, from 2008 to 2015.

The average tuition at Arizona's three four-year universities is now $10,398 a year.

Nationally, tuition has risen 29 percent over that same time period, by $2,068. The national average for tuition at public universities is $9,139.

Mitchell said the "vast majority of states" have begun reinvesting in higher education. Former Gov. Jan Brewer and the Legislature last year did boost funding for higher education by 3.7 percent, or $123 per student, for the current fiscal year.

But after this year's cuts to the universities for next fiscal year, the regents responded with tuition hikes for new students at the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University, and a one-time $320 surcharge for Arizona State University students.

"Arizona would be part of a very small group of states continuing to make cuts," Mitchell said. "That will make them even more of an outlier (next year)."

Mitchell warned that rising tuition costs are putting college out of reach for more Arizonans and are putting those who attend deeper in debt, which he said will hurt Arizona's still-struggling economy.

"Higher education is critical," he said. " Young college graduates earn more over their lifetime than someone who did not attend college, and higher education attainment is connected with lower rates of crime, better health outcomes and a myriad of other factors."

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But Senate President Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, said university attendance continues to grow in Arizona, even with tuition hikes. "We will continue to see vibrant, highly educated Arizonans who have attended universities and colleges," he said.

Dana Wolfe Naimark, president and CEO of the Arizona-based Children's Action Alliance, said only New Hampshire appropriated less money per student for higher education in fiscal 2015 than Arizona did.

"All sectors of education dropped as a share of the general fund over the past 10 years — K-12, universities and community colleges — all while increasing corrections spending," she said. "We are on a path to continue to grow prisons, but to make it harder for people to get a college education."

Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said the cuts were necessary as Arizona continues to recover from the recession and overcome budget shortfalls.

"With the exception of absolute musts like child protective services, all programs are going to take a hit when there's far less money coming in," he said. "And universities certainly aren't immune from that. Universities did their fair share."

He refused to allow the Legislature to carry the blame for rising tuition costs.

"The university has raised tuition by about twice as much as the Legislature has cut state aid," he said. "During the recession, from 2008 to 2015, the Legislature reduced state aid to universities by $342 million. Universities increased tuition by $832 million."

Before the recession, the state university system received about $1 billion a year from the state. The recent $99 million budget cuts will drop universities below $600 million.

Kavanagh suggested Arizona should restructure its higher education system to be more like California's, where degrees are offered through state colleges in addition to research universities, providing a wider variety of options. He also suggested that universities could do more to cut non-education fees, such as fitness center fees.

"Students spend a couple of hundred dollars a year for mandatory fitness center fees, and many don't even use them," he said. "Maybe it's a matter of priorities."

Wolfe Naimark said the problem is not the economy, but tax cuts.

"The tax cuts passed just since 2009 total $383 million a year in lost revenue," she said. "We are shrinking the tax base in the name of economic development, but ... we can't expect quality job growth and higher wages and higher economic prosperity for our state when we're disinvesting in education."