2 weeks Ago
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. 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.
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 priories 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 back 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. [email protected].
