"Regents: Flat funds will harm applicants," The Diamondback Online, October 21, 2004 <p>Regents: Flat funds will harm applicants State expects surge of more than 10K in next several years <p>Byline: Jared S. Hopkins, Senior staff writer <p>The Board of Regents is searching for a solution to an enrollment surge suggested in a recent report, though it remains unclear how such a surge would affect this university. <p>Approximately 10,000 to 12,000 additional students are expected to enroll in the state's higher education institutions in the next several years. If the University System of Maryland, which proposes university budget and tuition rates to the state, receives similar flat funding as the past four years, many state high school students will be kept from attending college, regents warned. <p>The Board of Regents is expected to approve proposals tomorrow -collectively known as the Effectiveness and Efficiency Report - to save the state nearly $27 million in higher education funding next year by requiring students to graduate faster, faculty members to work more and enticing students not admitted to the university to attend other system institutions. The report is in response to recent state budget cuts coupled with increased enrollment, while the system tries to keep tuition down and protect academic quality, said University System of Maryland Chancellor Brit Kirwan. <p>He estimated the proposals will accommodate somewhere between 20 and 25 percent in enrollment growth without increased state funding. <p>But Regent and former U.S. Sen. Joe Tydings, who first raised the issue at the Sept. 28 Board of Regents Education Policy Meeting, said planning must be done now to prevent a future disaster. He also said the report does little justice to an enrollment surge. <p>"As far as an answer to this problem, or the answer to underfunding, it isn't," he said. "It just shows the university and the system is doing everything humanly possible to make the best of the situation." <p>In 1988, the Board of Regents enacted an enrollment cap at this university - the only institution to have such a limit - so there will be no effect on enrollment unless the cap is lifted. The university's Shady Grove campus, which currently has about 1,000 university students, will be minimally affected, Kirwan said. University Provost Bill Destler agreed there will be a minimal effect on the campus, but the Shady Grove affiliate is likely to experience some enrollment problems. <p>"The E and E report buttresses our case that the state must reinvest in higher education. Now the state must step up," Kirwan said. "At the end of the day this isn't about the University System of Maryland; it's about Maryland's future and its well-being as a state." <p>Tydings did not mention Shady Grove but predicted this university will endure some problems from increased enrollment. <p>"I don't know how College Park is going to be hit, but it's going to be hit," Tydings said. "It's got to affect them; just how it's going to affect them, I don't know. This is a major problem." <p>As more high school seniors graduate with strong qualifications, they seek higher education and increased funding is necessary to accommodate more students, the regents said. Many who do not have the financial ability to attend college out-of-state will be blocked from higher education if the state does not provide funding, the regents warned. Their concerns echo the Maryland Higher Education Commission, which also predicts a decade-long enrollment surge as the result of more high school graduates with stronger test scores. <p>The Effectiveness and Efficiency report encourages prospective students to enroll at smaller state schools like Bowie State University, Towson University and Frostburg University. T<p>ydings, however, said Towson is not a feasible option because it already has too many students. <p>Regent Jim Rosapepe, however, said increased funding could solve the enrollment problem for at least the next three years. <p>"It will force years and years of double-digit tuition increases," Rosapepe said. "I see enrollment at College Park staying the same. It won't blow up. Mandated long-term funding tied to the number of students. [House Bill] 1188 and Sen. [Brian] Frosh's bill are the solution." <p>The House is scheduled to vote in January on overriding Gov. Ehrlirch's veto of House Bill 1188, which could enact a five percent tuition cap over five years. Frosh's bill, SB 112, similarly gives more money to higher education without raising taxes.