Listen Now: Morning News

Community college council agrees on proposed funding formula

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State funding for the nine community and technical colleges in the Mountain State would be determined by a three-part funding formula forwarded for public comment Thursday by the state Community and Technical College Council.

Funding would be determined by access, success and workforce development, according to state CTC Chancellor Dr. Sarah Tucker who spoke to MetroNews following the CTC Council meeting in South Charleston Thursday.

Sarah Tucker 

Money allocated by the legislature would be split into those three areas and then allocated to the nine schools by how they rank in the three areas.

Tucker said access funding would be based on how well the schools have done in enrolling students measured by credit hours earned and credit hours attempted. Success funding would be based on graduation rates and workforce development would provide financial support for schools that provide programs for students that aren’t necessarily earning credit hours.

An equitable funding formula cannot be solely based on graduation rates, Tucker said.

“You have to make sure that you’re also awarding colleges for reaching those students who are the hardest to reach, who have the greatest need, who could really benefit from a college education. So that happens in our access pool,” Tucker said. “So there are other pots of money for access and then there are other pots of money for workforce development because all of those areas are important.

State lawmakers urged both the CTC Council and Higher Education Policy Commission to development new funding formulas. The effort from the HEPC for the 4-year colleges and universities has now been swallowed up by the work of a new Blue Ribbon panel formed by Gov. Jim Justice to study the future of higher education in the state. The panel is scheduled to meet for a second time Friday. The two-year community and technical colleges are not part of the Blue Ribbon process, Tucker said.

The proposed CTC formula is now out for a 14-day public comment period. It will then be submitted to state lawmakers for their review next month. Tucker hopes the formula will aid lawmakers in allocating more money for community and technical college education.

“We are going to advocate for making that pot of money bigger,” Tucker said. “The colleges have had a series of very significant budget cuts over the past few years and so our colleges have been cut by 15.3 percent. We have colleges that simply can’t be cut anymore.”

Tucker said more than 150 employees have been laid off across the system in recent years and some campuses have been shuttered.

“We have to infuse more money into higher-ed and we hope that the funding formula is a way to do that for the community colleges,” she said.

The legislature split the two-year schools from their four-year partners in 2004 and hasn’t changed the funding formula since. It’s been based on the number of full-time students in 2004 and several campuses have grown, Tucker said.

The legislature allocated $54 million for community and technical colleges in the current fiscal year budget.





More News

News
MetroNews This Morning 3-29-24
Summary of West Virginia news, sports, and weather for Friday, March 29, 2024
March 29, 2024 - 6:24 am
News
Dunlow Volunteer Fire Department closes
The Dunlow VFD did not have a valid workers compensation insurance policy.
March 29, 2024 - 1:23 am
News
As Yeager Airport's Wildlife Patrol Dog turns 7, a new dog comes in to learn from him
The new Border Collie is getting acclimated and receiving training for his soon-to-be role.
March 28, 2024 - 6:30 pm
News
PEIA examines financial effects of new law meant to ensure local pharmacies get fair reimbursements
Gov. Jim Justice signed Senate Bill 453 into law this week.
March 28, 2024 - 4:11 pm