Pittsburgh Pushes Tax on College Students

A proposal to levy a 1 percent tuition tax on students at Pittsburgh colleges and universities threatens to drive a wedge between the city and the institutions credited with playing a major role in its transformation from an industrial to an education and medical center. Backers say the tax, which would add an estimated $16-million to the strapped city’s coffers, is a relatively small charge for the police, fire, and other services provided to Pittsburgh’s estimated 85,000 college students. Officials say the money would help the city narrow a pension-fund shortfall and keep library branches open. The Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education, which represents 10 local colleges, says the institutions inject millions into the city’s economy and that tens of thousands of students who live in Pittsburgh already pay parking, commuter, and entertainment taxes. The council is lobbying Pennsylvania legislators to adopt a statewide ban on tuition taxes.

Full text article by Kris Maher is available via The Wall Street Journal, 12/1/09.

College Leaders Offer Blunt Advice for Campuses Hit by Hard Times

Speakers at a leadership forum sponsored by the TIAA-CREF Institute called on public colleges to become more creative, efficient, and entrepreneurial. "The bigger issue is that most colleges are too concerned with trying to compete for prestige rather than serve their students and their communities," said Cal State's chancellor, Charles B. Reed.

Full text article by Goldie Blumenstyk is available via The Chronicle of Higher Education, 11/5/09.

After Boom Years, Money Dwindles for Higher Education

Public colleges in the Mountain West face the prospect of major cuts, just as more students return to college to improve their job skills in a weak economy.

Full-text article by Eric Kelderman is available via The Chronicle of Higher Education, 8.24.09.

States' Focus on Public Colleges Collides With Budget Reality

For states in the Pacific West, an exceptional reliance on public colleges and a steady erosion of state support has made higher education unusually vulnerable to the recession.

Full-text article by Josh Keller is available via The Chronicle of Higher Education, 8.24.09.