Vargas: No plans for layoffs or breaking tuition cap

Southeast Missouri State University has no plans to break the cap on tuition increases or lay off employees as a result of cuts in state aid, school president Carlos Vargas-Aburto said Wednesday.

Gov. Eric Greitens announced cuts to higher-education funding Monday totaling $82 million, including nearly $56 million in core state aid for four-year universities.

Southeast will lose $3.43 million in core funding, plus more than $100,000 in funding for its cybersecurity degree program, Vargas said.

In all, the withholdings will reduce state funding for Southeast by $3.5 million.

Southeast had been expected to receive $47.8 million in state aid before the budget cuts, said Kathy Mangels, vice president for finance and administration.

State funding, as originally budgeted, would have amounted to 41.9 percent of its $114 million operating budget.

As a result of the withholdings, Southeast's state aid equals the state appropriation the university received in 1999, Vargas said.

"At that time, we had just below 9,000 students. Now we have 12,000 students," he said.

A state commission created last year by lawmakers to recommend possible changes about the operation of the University of Missouri system urged in December that Missouri scrap the cap on tuition increases for public universities.

Such a move would require legislative action. A 2007 Missouri law prohibits state universities from raising tuition and general fees more than the increase in the Consumer Price Index each year.

Since the cap's implementation, average tuition at Missouri's four-year public colleges and universities increased by about $740, or 9.5 percent, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, D.C.

Mike Mitchell, senior policy analyst with the organization, said only two states -- Ohio and Montana -- saw smaller tuition increases over the same period.

Nationwide, the average tuition increase at public, four-year institutions was $2,333, or 33 percent, during that period, he said.

Current law allows schools to seek a waiver from the cap requirement.

"So there is a mechanism that universities could use to raise tuition to a level higher than the index," Vargas said.

But the Southeast president said asking for such a waiver is not "a first option."

Southeast will look to absorb spending cuts without an over-the-cap tuition increase.

As it stands, Southeast can cut spending without eliminating faculty and staff jobs, Vargas said.

He said the university has not settled on specific areas to trim spending.

Southeast's budget review committee, which includes faculty, staff, students and administrators, will look at where spending could be cut, he said.

"It is a challenge," Vargas said.

But Vargas said it is important to keep college affordable for students. At the same time, Southeast and other universities need sufficient funding to deliver quality education, he said.

"It is a balancing act," he added.

Vargas said the cut in funding for the cybersecurity program will affect efforts to enhance the program but not eliminate it.

Mangels said the university sought additional funding for the purchase of new equipment and to help develop a master's program in cybersecurity. Students can obtain a bachelor's degree in that field, she said.

Vargas said there is no assurance there won't be additional cuts in state funding that would require the school to tighten its fiscal belt even more.

"I am hoping that things don't get much worse than they are at this point," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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