College Opportunity For All

The O’Malley-Brown Tuition Relief Plan for Maryland Families in 2006-2007

January 2, 2006

Introduction

Now, more than ever before, higher education is essential to success in our increasingly complex and competitive economy. National studies remind us that a student who receives a college education, or even some college education, is more likely to live a longer and healthier life and be a more productive part of his or her society.

With these facts known to all of Maryland’s leaders, it is hard to understand why Governor Robert Ehrlich has chosen to make college education less affordable for Maryland families. In his first three years in office, Ehrlich has slashed funding for higher education and has raised tuition at an alarming rate – making higher education unaffordable to more and more Marylanders. Martin O’Malley and Anthony Brown have a plan to stop Ehrlich’s assault on higher education and reverse the damage he has done.

Ehrlich’s Tuition Increases and Cuts to Higher Ed Funding

Since taking office in 2003, Governor Ehrlich has cut a total of $120 million from Maryland’s Higher Education budget and has only restored a fraction of that amount. His unwavering goal to increase college tuition in Maryland is having devastating results on current students and the future of Maryland’s higher education institutions. Under Ehrlich’s watch, tuition at Maryland’s largest university, UM College Park, has skyrocketed 43.6%. Other institutions such as Salisbury University and UM Baltimore County have also seen more than 40% tuition increases. Institutions such as Bowie State, Towson State, UM Eastern Shore and the University of Baltimore have also seen their tuition hiked more than 35%. Similarly, Maryland’s vital community colleges have not been left out of this tuition hike and they are feeling Ehrlich’s pinch as much as any other institution.

One of Ehrlich closest political allies – and his campaign fundraising chair in 2002 – Dick Hug even went so far as suggesting that tuition at UM College Park be DOUBLED. After the 2002 election, Hug was appointed by Ehrlich to the University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents. With the tuition increase at College Park more than 43% already, and the prospect of even more hikes in 2006, Robert Ehrlich is well on his way to half of Hug’s outrageous goal in just four years. Marylanders cannot afford another four years of Ehrlich’s tuition hikes.

These tuition hikes are already having harmful results for the State of Maryland. According to one member of the Board of Regents, “Maryland is losing top faculty to states that better protect funding for higher education, including 10 engineering professors from the College Park campus and three geneticists from the University of Maryland Medical School in Baltimore.�

Furthermore, these cuts and tuition hikes come at a particularly bad time for the State of Maryland as the population of people seeking college education is expected to rise dramatically in the coming years.

The O’Malley-Brown Tuition Relief Plan for Maryland Families in 2006

In order to allow more families to afford higher education, Martin O’Malley and Anthony Brown are introducing their Tuition Relief Plan for Maryland Families in 2006. Their plan calls for the State to fully fund higher education while holding steady tuition for the 2006-2007 academic year. Both of these goals can be accomplished without cutting enrollment, laying off staff or faculty and without delaying current projects and planned construction.

Governor Ehrlich’s previous three years in office clearly show that he is either unwilling or unable to both fully fund higher education and hold tuition increases to reasonable rates. Given the relative small amount of money a one year tuition relief plan in tuition would cost – estimated to be between $15 and $20 million – it is unclear why Ehrlich would refuse to support such a goal.

There are several ways in which the State of Maryland could to fund a one-year tuition relief plan without Draconian budget cuts or tax and fee increases. For example, the State could draw from its current budget surplus estimated to be more than a $1.2 billion; secondly, the State’s Rainy Day Fund could be tapped in order to allow this one-time use funds – funds which are surely in the State’s best long-term interests; finally, the State could bring more efficiency and accountability to our government through innovative programs such as Baltimore’s CitiStat accounting tool which has saved City taxpayers more than $160 million since inception. The overall point is that there are a variety of new and alternative ways in which Governor Ehrlich could fund a one-year tuition relief plan – he simply hasn’t chosen to do so.

Conclusion

Investing in higher education now will pay enormous dividends to a future generation of Maryland families and Ehrlich has simply failed to do this. Martin O’alley and Anthony Brown believe we should be investing in this future rather than borrowing against it. And as the next Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Maryland that is exactly what they will do.