Inside Higher Ed has a good rundown on some of the state-level higher education budget issues I’ve been blogging about:
Already wounded by budget reductions that came in July and before, college leaders are now scrambling to squeeze even more from coffers, daunted by the real expectation that there are further cuts still to come.
With the academic year in full swing, 26 states have now seen budget shortfalls that total $16 billion, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Adding the initial and midyear budget shortfalls together, the collective budget gaps in 48 states total $178 billion or 26 percent of state budgets — the largest gaps on record, the center reports.
The tough part for colleges is “trying to balance the need for quick action with the desire to develop strategic and sustainable solutions that will be necessary to adapt to a new normal for higher education.”
Obviously, in a climate like this it’s easy to lose sight of the latter for the sake of the former.
