The country has been experiencing major budget deficits. The education sector is a major casualty. Education is an important fiber of the modern society. Universities will have to find a way of either increasing their sources of funding or cut back on their expenditure. Many stakeholders in education will be affected by the cut back. Many studentswho would like to further their education will be discouraged by the high tuition fees,which are prohibitively high. Most parents set up their children’s education fund when the beneficiaries are still young. It is a strategy that enables them accumulate enough money to afford their children’s college education. The rise of tuition puts a strain on these funds.(Apple, 1990).

Background                                                                                                   

Due to the budgetary cuts againsteducation, the state universities and colleges will have to increase the tuition fee to cover the deficits. The tuition fee will go up by 8% this year. The 8 percent increase follows a 14 percent increase in the year last year. The budgetary cuts and the upward revision of tuition fee by the state universities will result into a large number of students being locked out of state universities: they will be “priced out’’ (Anderson, 1988).

The thirst of education by these students is not hampered by the high cost of university education. They seek other options of education elsewhere.The students will go the community colleges, which are a cheaper compared to the universities. The influx into the community colleges by the “priced out” students from state universities will increase the admission numbers and put pressure on the existing facilities (Irfan, 1991).

More students seeking admission will require that the colleges hire more lecturers, support staff and equipment. It may however be difficult since the budget cuts made by the state also affected the community colleges. One such community college is Mt. Rossmoor Community College (MRCC). It will experience a budget cut of 15% . MRCC is thus forced to come up with innovative means of addressing the deficit while still upholding the highest level of education standards.The college will have to increase the tuition fees since it is their major source of income. It might not be the best situation however considering that college is bound to admit a larger number of students. (Anderson, 1988).

As a superintendent, one has to appreciate all the stakeholders involved in order to effectively tackle the issue (Apple, 1990). The key stakeholders include:

• Rossmoor Community College (MRCC) – as an education provider the college is a major stakeholder as it determines the raft of measures that have to be taken in order to provide a balance between proper education facilities and the tuition fee paid by the students.It struggles with maintaining a fair tuition fee that students can access easily and providing high education standards (Chimombo, 1986).
• The MRCC staff, both teaching and non-teaching has a voice in terms of any employment related issues the college will consider. The college may decide whether to increase their number or force them to leave their jobs. One thing is clear that if the college increases the number of students, the staff will have to take on extra work or the number is increased(Ashby, 1985).
• Students-they involve both current and potential students who will seek enrollment into MRCC depending on the tuition charged. Without the students, the college would not function at all. Therefore, the college has to ensure that they keep the tuition fee fair so that many students can access their services (Carron, 1989).
• The parents and guardians are the people who make the payments to the college. They will thus be affected directly by any action taken by the college. Their issues should be carefully considered before any major step is taken. Therefore, the College Board has to ensure that they meet with the parents to set a common ground. Parents would like their children to get access to the best education and therefore they would probably be open to good and sound suggestions(Brock-Utne, 2000).

Solutions

MRCC in the past five years has seen an increase of about 15% in student numbers. The increase was due to the housing boom that occurred in the surrounding community. Thisyear, however because of the challenges posed by the budget cuts to state universities and colleges done by the state will lead to an increased number of the “priced out” students in the less expensive community colleges.The most logical and direct measure of covering the deficit brought by the budget cuts is to raise the tuition fee by a minimal percentage and conduct an audit of its core operations. Through the audit, MRCC will figure which areas it can make a saving and realize a slight fee increment. Some of these operations involve shuttering of buildings within its campuses so that it saves on air conditioning and electricity bills.

MRCC through its Human Resource Development department can review its need in terms of the staff and resort for early retirement (for those who are willing) or lay- offs. However, this is an expensive affair as it would mean that they have enough money for paying the benefits and “Golden Handshake”. The college can also decide on reviewing the number of courses it offers. An ingenious way is to provide online courses: which will immediately result in the decrease of the number of students coming to its facilities. In this way, the college can admit so many students at affordable fees. This is a win-win situation(Bryant, 1990).

Conclusion

Budget cuts affect institutions and increase the cost of education. However universities and colleges should not be in a hurry to increase fees. The fee increment is the last of the solutions. They can employ innovative measures of raising funds, introducing online courses and starting income generating projects so as to keep the costs of education low.

References

Anderson, M. B. (1988). Improving Access to Schooling In Third World. New York: Routledge.

Apple, M. W. (1990). Ideology and Curriculum. New York: Routledge.

Ashby, J. A. (1985). Equity and Discriminationamong Children: Schooling Decisions in Rural Nepal. Comparative Education Review, 68-79.

Brock-Utne, B. (2000). Who’s Education For All? The Recolonization of the African Mind. New York: Falmer Press.

Bryant, C. (1990). Investigating in People: World Bank Lending for Human Resource Development for Malawi. Washington DC: Jossey and Bass.

Carron, A. A. (1989). The Challenges of Basic Education for All. Washington DC: Jossey and Bass.

Chimombo, J. P. (1986). Secondary School Curricular Diversification: The Case for Practical Subjects in Malawi Evaluated. Bristol: University of Bristol.

Irfan, N. A. (1991). Parental Characteristics, Supply of Schools and Child-School Enrolment in Pakistan. The Pakistan Development Review, 21-62.