Over the last five years Commonwealth support for our operating needs has remained at about 46% of Educational & General (E&G) revenue (Table 11-2).

Our limited state funding is due to two factors. The first is that Commonwealth support of public higher education has not been a high priority of most recent administrations. Funding of public higher education is a political process, decided in the context of the total state budget without regard to our needs or enrollment. For 1998-1999, for example, the State System requested a 7% increase over the previous year, but the Governor approved only a 3% increase, even though a significant budget surplus was available.

Our share of the System's overall state appropriation is determined by a formula approved by the State System Board of Governors, which was revised substantially in 1995-96. One of the major changes was that program cost differentials are no longer recognized. We have high enrollments in high cost programs such as the natural sciences and industrial technology, so the net impact of the new formula has been to reduce our share of the System's appropriation.

Another major change in the funding formula is that distributions are heavily influenced by fluctuations in student enrollment. While our full-time enrollments during the academic year have been steady (see Chapter 6), summer and part-time enrollments have declined, reducing our allocation. Prudent enrollment management policy and practices are now critical to fiscal stability