TICUA Policy Update

February 4, 2005

Lottery “Excess” Debate Heats Up

The debate is heating up concerning the “excess” funds of the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship Program.  Governor Phil Bredesen announced his desire to take $25 million of the “excess” funds to energize the Pre-Kindergarten reading program.  Finance Commission Dave Goetz announced that the use of the funds would be recurring instead of a one-time use.

The Nashville City Paper quoted Senator Steve Cohen accusing the Governor of wanting “to create excess for some other project and [he’ll] be funding pre-kindergarten on the backs of college students.”  Cohen’s plan is to expand the scholarships by increasing the amounts by $1,000 in order to use more of the lottery proceeds.  TICUA Chairman Jeff Nesin agreed to co-sign a letter supporting the scholarship increase in order to make the purchasing power of the grants more robust.

Governor’s Budget Leaves Student Aid Flat

To the disappointment of the TICUA, the Governor’s proposed budget leaves the Tennessee Student Assistance Award and Contract Education flat funded. 

Based on Governor Bredesen’s budget an estimated 31,000 eligible needy students will go another year without help from the State’s need-based aid program.  The budget leaves the grant program funded at $42 million some $66.8 million short of what it would take to fully fund the program.  TICUA is asking the General Assembly to consider an incremental increase of $25.3 million which would provide assistance to an additional 13,400 students across Tennessee.

The Governor also failed to provide additional funding for students benefiting from Tennessee’s Contract Education program.  Contract Education provides aid to students attending academic programs at TICUA member institutions not currently being offered by the public colleges or universities.  The program is currently slated to receive $2.3 million which is less than one-half of what is needed to fund every Tennessean seeking such assistance.

Senator Alexander Seeks to “De-Regulate” Higher Education

In a speech before college and university presidents at the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, Senator Lamar Alexander announced that he was drafting a bill designed to de-regulate higher education.  The now Senator and former Tennessee Governor, university president, and US Secretary of Education, is quoted in the Chronicle of Higher Education as saying, "The idea of price controls from Washington for colleges and universities is a bad idea.  It's a bad idea because what has made our system of higher education superior is autonomy and choice."

TICUA Annual Meeting

Don’t forget to attend the 49^th TICUA Annual Meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, February 15 and 16, 2005!  This year’s theme is “Changing Lives:  Providing Opportunity in Tennessee Higher Education.”  To register contact TICUA Vice President Susanna Baxter at 615- 242-6400, ext. 203.