Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Investing

Federal Bureaucrats Are Wrong About West Virginia Higher Education Funding

by February 20, 2024
February 20, 2024
Federal Bureaucrats Are Wrong About West Virginia Higher Education Funding

Krit Chanwong and Marc Joffe

The federal government has accrued massive deficits in the last two decades. Yet it often gives fiscal advice to states, most of whom have been much more fiscally responsible. Unsurprisingly, most of this advice is bad. Take the federal government’s advice on West Virginia’s land‐​grant HBCUs for example.

On September 18, 2023, the USDA and US Department of Education sent a letter to 16 states alleging major funding disparities between the states’ land‐​grant historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and non‐​HBCU land‐​grant universities.

One of the letters was addressed to West Virginia Governor Jim Justice. The letter alleged that, over the last thirty years, West Virginia State University (WVSU), a land‐​grant HBCU, has been underfunded by $850 million when compared to West Virginia University (WVU), a non‐​HBCU land grant university. The letter advises West Virginia to make a “substantial state allocation toward the [HBCU] deficit” combined with a “forward‐​looking budget commitment for a two‐​to‐​one match of federal land‐​grant funding for these institutions in order to bring parity to funding levels.”

It is true that HBCU land‐​grant universities have been historically underfunded. Evidence of this is not hard to find. And it is tempting to advocate for increased investments to service this historically disadvantaged population. However, such arguments do not seem to apply to WVSU. Ever since desegregation, WVSU has ceased to be a majority‐​black institution. Moreover, in 1957, WVSU became the only land‐​grant HBCU to lose its land‐​grant status. This status was only returned in 2001. So it is unlikely that any increases in WVSU funding will advance educational equity in West Virginia.

Moreover, the USDA and the US Department of Education’s boilerplate proposal ignores some sobering realities about West Virginia’s demography. From 2010 to 2021, West Virginia’s population shrunk by 3.8 percent. Moreover, from 2010 to 2020, the percentage of residents in West Virginia aged below 18 decreased from 22.3 percent to 21.2 percent. Put simply, there are fewer people in West Virginia, and even fewer young people. These trends are unlikely to change due to the decline of West Virginia’s coal mining industry.

Both WVU and WVSU have felt the effects of West Virginia’s demographic decline. From 2020 to 2021, WVU’s total enrollment shrunk by 3 percent, from 26,269 to 25,474. During the same time, WVSU’s total enrollment shrunk by 6 percent, from 3,638 to 3,415. These declines in total enrollment were larger than national declines in college enrollments. As a result, WVU has been looking to make some significant cuts to its academic program. Increasing WVSU’s funding, then, may simply be a short‐​term (and fiscally irresponsible) bandage to a structural problem that requires more substantial reforms.

In fact, there is a high chance that increased educational funding for WVSU may increase the amount of administrative bloat. According to a 2017 study, administrative hiring in higher education has increased 50 percent faster than instructional hiring from 2001 to 2011. Any increases in WVSU funding would be likely to fund WVSU’s administrators, who may not be delivering much value to WVSU’s students.

If legislators want to truly improve WVSU, they should consider integrating WVSU into the WVU system, which currently consists of five colleges (including WVU). Through integration with the WVU system, universities will only need to depend on a single vice chancellor, provost, or chief financial officer, amongst other administrative positions. A proposed 2017 integration of 12 Connecticut community colleges, for example, was estimated to save $28 million due to reductions in administrative staff. This proposal will keep WVSU economically viable, while modestly reducing West Virginia’s higher education budget.

Consolidating public higher education institutions (as well as K‑12 schools) in the face of stagnant to declining enrollment and trimming administrative staff are among the recommendations in Cato Institute’s new policy analysis, State Fiscal Health and Cost‐​Saving Strategies. The new study finds that increased state spending often fails to correlate with better policy outcomes and provides policymakers with a framework for controlling costs.

But as the study notes, states have a much more manageable debt load than the federal government. Consequently, the federal government is the last place states should turn for fiscal guidance.

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Tech leaders debate AI skills shortage in Parliament 
next post
One of UK’s ‘most advanced’ vertical farms opens in Gloucestershire

You may also like

Election Policy Roundup

July 10, 2024

Milton Friedman: ‘Crack Would Never Have Existed If...

July 31, 2024

Friday Feature: Masterpiece Academy

June 28, 2024

The Rights We Give Up under “Marsy’s Law”

June 2, 2023

Venezuela: How Monetary Mismanagement Contributed to Maduro’s Weakness

July 26, 2024

The State of Student Loan Forgiveness: November 2024

November 29, 2024

The Center for Immigration Studies Is Still Wrong...

March 6, 2024

The Historical Ratio Between Dropout and High School...

May 29, 2025

Let Them Stay

May 2, 2023

Grocery Price Gouging?

August 19, 2024

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Trump warns of ‘serious consequences’ if Elon Musk funds Democrats

      June 7, 2025
    • Musk jokes about reconsidering stance on Big Beautiful Bill after Schiff’s praise

      June 7, 2025
    • Musk deletes explosive posts about Trump and Epstein files

      June 7, 2025
    • House witness flips script on Dem who ambushed him during hearing with unearthed tweet: ‘Iceberg is ahead’

      June 7, 2025
    • Call with China’s Xi, and Trump-Musk exchange fueled barbs during 20th week in office

      June 7, 2025
    • Trump’s conservative allies warn Congress faces critical ‘test’ with $9.4B spending cut proposal

      June 7, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,152)
    • Investing (2,019)
    • Politics (15,568)
    • Stocks (3,136)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved