Consolidation of historically black universities a bad idea

Published September 18, 2013

Editorial by Winston-Salem Journal, September 18, 2013.

A suggestion that the UNC system should consolidate several campuses, specifically schools that traditionally have served either African-American or Native American students, should be abandoned immediately.

UNC Board of Governors member Harry D. Smith suggested consolidation recently, resurrecting a concept the Republican-led General Assembly discussed during the past two legislative sessions.

Such a move would be wrong-headed and exactly the opposite of what the state should be doing with regard to public higher education.

Enrollment at the six campuses has dropped in recent years, and that’s created funding hurdles at each. But that doesn’t mean that each of the campuses isn’t valuable to the community it serves and important to the future of statewide economic and educational development.

These six campuses have always been last in line when it came to public money for higher education. They have also traditionally served minority and low-income students. No wonder they are having trouble in tough economic times.

Rather than close one or more of these campuses, university leaders should find ways to enhance each. It may be that they need new strategies, such as a focus on innovative curricula. But it is almost certain that they need more resources.

One option for getting more resources would be enrolling more out-of-state students who pay higher tuition. Such a move, which would require raising the 18 percent cap on out-of-state students, would provide a better bottom line when legislators look at which schools are being underwritten most earnestly by taxpayers. And, if innovative programs could be designed on these campuses, the out-of-state students would come, lured by the prestige of a UNC degree.

Some argue that consolidation, with better use of limited resources, would make innovative programs possible. But consolidation carries another problem: removing a key educational asset from a region of the state, most likely a poor region, such as the Northeast or Southeast.

Higher educational access will be essential to balanced economic growth during this century and denying residents of one or more corners of this state that access amounts to a kiss of death.