UL System head urges changes to funding formula

University of Louisiana System President Randy Moffett is urging the Board of Regents and Commissioner of Higher Education Jim Purcell to suspend the current funding formula for the 2012-13 fiscal year and examine other options. Moffett suggests that cutting state funding for universities on a “pro-rata” basis—that is, cutting everyone by the same percentage—might be a better way to go. He says the limitations of the formula include its failure to recognize differences in the role, scope and mission of individual universities; failure to recognize that smaller institutions are more at risk; and failure to recognize disparate tuition rates relative to peer institutions. In an email response to Moffett, Purcell acknowledges the system president’s concerns but does not seem to entertain the idea of suspending the formula. “The pain that institutions are feeling is more because of the reduction in the overall higher education budget than in the machinations of the formula,” Purcell says. To read the email exchange between Moffett and Purcell, click here.