Georgia’s university system could face tough financial times, Chancellor Sonny Perdue told a joint budget committee on Wednesday.
“We are committed to you that we will do our best to do more with less,” he said. “It won’t get any better in the next few years either.”
Perdue told lawmakers that the formula the state government uses to calculate its university share of money is primarily based on the cost of educating students, with the total number of credit hours from two years prior being the primary input.
But enrollment is declining at most of the system’s 26 universities. Only Augusta University, Georgia Tech, Georgia State University, University of Georgia, and Georgia Southwestern State University saw an increase in enrollment between fall 2016 and fall 2022. The rest saw a drop in enrollments.
Fewer students mean fewer credit hours and less money for operating expenses.
“Our system is based on continuous climbing, climbing, climbing, and now with the enrollment going down, we’re seeing that there’s more of a challenge here based on the formula,” Perdue said.
Perdue, who was governor of Georgia from 2003 to 2011, imposed deep cuts in the state budget during the Great Recession. He said he has experience dealing with tight budgets but warned layoffs could be a possibility, particularly at smaller institutions.
“I presented five budgets to the Appropriations Committee that had less money, literally less money than the year before. So we know how to do more with less. And we’re doing more with less, our institutions are doing a great job here, recalibrating, taking out whatever kind of excess they can find in it, but if you have over 80% of your budget in institutions that are made up of people , you know what? That means people and that will affect you and you will hear about it.”
Gov. Brian Kemp’s proposed budget includes new college spending such as $18 million to fund increased employer contributions to health insurance costs and $87.4 million to fund a $2,000 pay rise for full-time employees.
Perdue said the raises are well-deserved and greatly appreciated, but he said they would cost the university system about $40 million to provide equivalent raises to about 15,500 workers not included in them.
“It’s not your fault of course, but we think the people who are uninsured are valuable to the system. They just don’t belong in that state-funded category, but we want to do them justice, too,” he said. “You all need to know that number, which also affects the challenges as you progress.”
Kemp has also pledged efforts to increase employee retention, including $61.2 million to expand the HOPE grant to 100% of tuition at all Georgia public universities and credit forgiveness programs for high-demand areas like law enforcement and nursing.
K-12 education
The committee also heard from State School Superintendent Richard Woods on Wednesday. Elementary education accounts for the bulk of Georgia’s budget, and this year Kemp’s proposal includes $1.1 billion in new funding for K-12 education.
That includes $290 million to fund $2,000 in pay increases effective September 1, $27 million to pay school counselors, $25 million for learning loss grants, and $115 million for empowerment of school security.
Republican Senator from Statesboro Billy Hickman said he wanted to know more about the latter.
“Are there any guidelines on how to handle that and what kind of qualifications a school needs to have to meet them? Are we just talking about extra cops around the schools? Are we talking about metal detectors in schools?”
The department is awaiting guidance from the governor’s office on what expenditures are eligible, but Woods said the money will likely be used for one-off improvements rather than hiring permanent staff.
“This is just a one-time thing, so it’s not something that’s expanding. So if something were to happen in that area, counties would have to consider that they would have to bear the costs beyond that initial investment,” he said.
The Department of Education is also in talks with the governor’s office about how the proposed funding for school counselors will be spent. One idea being discussed focuses on hiring career counselors so that school counselors who are already on the payroll can focus more on other aspects of their work.
Hiring new school counselors can often be more difficult than simply posting a job posting online, Woods added.
“This additional funding is greatly appreciated, but we are having a problem finding qualified individuals to fill these positions as well,” he said.
Regarding the learning loss grants, Woods said initial data shows Georgia students are catching up relatively well after the pandemic than students in other states. However, he said the level of learning loss students face varies from district to district.
“Broadly speaking, we’re in good shape across the state and whatever we’ve seen as a loss can be overcome within a reasonable timeframe,” he said.
Woods reiterated his support for updating the Quality Basic Education Formula, which has controlled the level of government funding for districts since its inception in 1985. Education advocates have been calling for the formula to be updated for years, and a team of influential senators formed a committee to review it last year.
When asked for his thoughts by lawmakers, Woods expressed agreement but stopped calling for a full rewrite.
“My recommendation would be that instead of a complete overhaul, we start, maybe break it down piecemeal, look at what’s definitely more viable or important, and make some adjustments on a smaller scale so we’re not basically flipping the apple cart all at once,” he said .
