Zero Sum or Variable Sum: Competition or Cooperation among Higher Education Segments in the Pursuit of State Funding Support. AIR 1996 Annual Forum Paper.

During the first crisis of the early 1990s, higher education institutions in Maryland experienced a decline in public funding and were consequently forced to compete for scarce resources. By 1992, higher education appropriations as a percentage of the state general fund had fallen to 11.1%; a decrease of 2.4% in just 2 years. Some improvement had been made by fiscal year (FY) 1995: Adjusting state funding support by full-time equivalent enrollments for FY 1995, community colleges had realized significant gains in their funding level from 1990 and independent institutions had recovered their level of support. Public four-year institutions, however, still remained significantly below their 1990 levels. The 1995 state legislative session resulted in further decreases for the four-year institutions. In response to the general frustrations over funding, leaders from the three segments developed a coordinated strategy in 1996 to focus on the total general fund support rather than individual shares. The ultimate goal of the group was to increase the average general fund appropriations and increase the state's higher education investment to 14% of its general fund budget by FY 2002. While the coordinated strategy was not completely implemented, it did result in an increase in general fund support for FY 1997 by $33 million from FY 1996 and conflict between the segments has been reduced. (TGI)