When it comes to the debate about cuts to next year's deflated higher education budget, lawmakers should be sure to mind the gap while making their decisions.
On one side, some legislators would like state dollars to be trimmed equally among Michigan's 15 public universities. Those lawmakers are backed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who has suggested each university have its budget cut by 6.5 percent.
But there also are some lawmakers who hope to embark on a more just and responsible approach to balancing the higher education budget and work to close the funding gaps that exist among the public universities.
According to the Legislature's four-tiered university ranking system, each institution within one of the four tiers is supposed to receive the same amount of funding per student, but they don't. The tiers are based on the instructional and operational cost of each university and range from $4,600 to $9,100 per student.
The state's three research universities - MSU, University of Michigan and Wayne State University - compose the Legislature's first tier but experience vast gaps in per student funding.
In the 2003 fiscal year, Wayne State received $10,304 per student, U-M received $9,233 per student ($1,071 less than Wayne State) and MSU received $7,685 per student ($1,548 less than U-M and $2,619 less than Wayne State).
These figures are troubling and have been for many years.
While some fear varied funding cuts would pit the state's universities against one another in a fight over an already dismal budgetary process, their worries are out of line.
The state has a responsibility to keep its universities on a level playing field; not only when times are tough but in prosperous seasons as well.
Lawmakers should not use the sad state of the economy to disregard the per-student funding gap that exists among Michigan's 15 public universities for another year.
Yes, each university has its unique needs and those special cases should be observed. But, when it comes down to it, MSU's special case has been virtually ignored for too long.
As the state's only land-grant institution, MSU has an obligation to keep higher education affordable to Michigan's middle-class residents. And the Legislature has had a responsibility to support that mission since Lansing founded MSU in 1855.
Yes, every state institution and Michigan citizen has an obligation to share in the woes of a bad economy, but Lansing should push a harder burden on those residents who seek an affordable higher education.
By continually refusing to acknowledge their role in MSU's mission and duty to fund all its universities with equality, lawmakers are forcing higher education's hand to pass the buck on to state residents.
We hope lawmakers will do their duty and mind the gap when they return next week.
