Mississippi Governor Proposes to Consolidate Three Historically Black Schools
Stuart Nachbar
November 19, 2009
Mississippi governor Haley Barbour proposes to consolidate the state's three Historically Black Colleges and Universities into a single school. According to his budget proposal, Alcorn State University and Mississippi Valley State University would be merged with Jackson State University. I am left to presume that Jackson, as the state capital, would be the flagship campus for the combined school.
Governor Barbour proposes the merger as a cost savings, but he says that no campuses will be closed; the savings would be administrative. I would also guess that cost savings would be found in intercollegiate athletics and corporate identity for the individual schools.
I took a look at the U.S. News numbers for the three schools. Jackson State, with approximately 6,100 undergraduates, has the largest student body, and admits slightly more than sixty percent of all applicants. Alcorn State has approximately 2,700 undergraduates and admits 85 percent of all applicants. Mississippi Valley State has approximately 2,500 students and admits 24 percent of all applicants.
I went to the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning site to see what the undergraduate enrollments were at the start of the decade. In 2000, Jackson State had approximately 4,900 undergraduate students, Alcorn State had 2,400 and Mississippi Valley State had approximately 2,100 enrolled. So, while the country, and Mississippi's economy, have had their ups and downs, enrollment in these three historically black schools has increased.
Governor Barbour has every right to suggest cost savings, just as citizens have a right to question his proposals. From a distance, I can assume that he has already had to cut state support to these schools; practically every governor has faced this dilemma while trying to balance a budget. I can also assume that the historically black schools received their share of cuts.
If these three schools were losing students--Delta State, by comparison has seen its enrollment decline--I could understand a rationale for more cuts. But they have more students, not fewer, and therefore, they do not have fewer needs for academic and student services. You might be able to centralize the office of the president, as well as the president's direct reports, but you would still need people to provide hands-on assistance on campus.
So, there would be some cost savings: one president, one management team for three schools. One admissions office. One fundraising office to raise money for all three campuses. But these schools also have identities that have been developed over time, especially in sports.
Are the cost savings worth taking away their history? And would a centralized development operation raise as much, or more money, to support these three schools as individual offices would? I have no ties to Mississippi or the history of these schools, so I cannot provide answers. I'd love to see a reply from someone who can.
Stuart Nachbar blogs on education and politics at www.EducatedQuest.com. Learn more about his recent novel, Defending College Heights, an investigation into the murder of a U.S. Army recruiter at www.DefendingCollegeHeights.com.
Governor Barbour proposes the merger as a cost savings, but he says that no campuses will be closed; the savings would be administrative. I would also guess that cost savings would be found in intercollegiate athletics and corporate identity for the individual schools.
I took a look at the U.S. News numbers for the three schools. Jackson State, with approximately 6,100 undergraduates, has the largest student body, and admits slightly more than sixty percent of all applicants. Alcorn State has approximately 2,700 undergraduates and admits 85 percent of all applicants. Mississippi Valley State has approximately 2,500 students and admits 24 percent of all applicants.
I went to the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning site to see what the undergraduate enrollments were at the start of the decade. In 2000, Jackson State had approximately 4,900 undergraduate students, Alcorn State had 2,400 and Mississippi Valley State had approximately 2,100 enrolled. So, while the country, and Mississippi's economy, have had their ups and downs, enrollment in these three historically black schools has increased.
Governor Barbour has every right to suggest cost savings, just as citizens have a right to question his proposals. From a distance, I can assume that he has already had to cut state support to these schools; practically every governor has faced this dilemma while trying to balance a budget. I can also assume that the historically black schools received their share of cuts.
If these three schools were losing students--Delta State, by comparison has seen its enrollment decline--I could understand a rationale for more cuts. But they have more students, not fewer, and therefore, they do not have fewer needs for academic and student services. You might be able to centralize the office of the president, as well as the president's direct reports, but you would still need people to provide hands-on assistance on campus.
So, there would be some cost savings: one president, one management team for three schools. One admissions office. One fundraising office to raise money for all three campuses. But these schools also have identities that have been developed over time, especially in sports.
Are the cost savings worth taking away their history? And would a centralized development operation raise as much, or more money, to support these three schools as individual offices would? I have no ties to Mississippi or the history of these schools, so I cannot provide answers. I'd love to see a reply from someone who can.
Stuart Nachbar blogs on education and politics at www.EducatedQuest.com. Learn more about his recent novel, Defending College Heights, an investigation into the murder of a U.S. Army recruiter at www.DefendingCollegeHeights.com.
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