University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

UB’s 2009 Legislative Priorities

Defining the challenge

New York State has lost its competitive edge—and it faces a budget crisis of historic proportions. Upstate’s economy lags behind those of the state and the nation. Western New York has lost population and thousands of manufacturing jobs. Buffalo has the third-highest poverty rate among large U.S. cities.

Identifying the solution

UB 2020: Innovation. Revitalization. Job Creation.

New York State must develop a globally competitive, diversified economy. UB, New York’s leading public research university, can make that possible—if the state provides needed investments over the long term and no-cost, high-impact regulatory reforms now. UB's 2009 advocacy goals are detailed in "Defining the Challenge." | Read more

What is UB requesting this year?

The UB 2020 Flexibility and Economic Growth Act —which has broad community support—is a high impact, no cost, fiscally responsible request that takes into consideration New York’s budget shortfall. It proposes changes in state law to give UB the financial and regulatory flexibility needed to achieve its strategic plan. The bill is sponsored by the Western New York state delegation and is being introduced in the Senate and Assembly as Bill No. 2020. UB 2020 Flexibility and Economic Growth Act focuses on important policy reforms that will allow UB to control its destiny and fully implement UB 2020 by:

1. Achieving a rational tuition policy through which small, regular increases in tuition would provide the university with predictable funding to support high-quality programs and allow parents and students to better plan and budget for expenses.
   
2. Gaining spending and contracting flexibility, unshackling UB from unnecessary pre-review and approval requirements.
   
3. Obtaining access to market capital through authority to borrow funds from recognized lending agents and to engage private developers in partnerships so that developer-financed facilities can be built on campus.
   
4. Attaining the ability to lease or purchase land and facilities, freeing UB to form partnerships to benefit the university and local economy.

What is the cost of these proposals?

The public policy reforms we are asking for can be implemented quickly and achieved at no cost. They are a high-impact way to move UB forward. It is time to seize the opportunity provided by New York State’s financial crisis to build the kind of great university that has led to dramatic economic growth and global competitiveness in many others states.

What is the situation in other states?

Major public research universities in many other states already have the flexibility that the reforms being sought by UB would provide.

How would the reforms impact taxpayers?

Empowering UB and its leadership to apply best business practices while still being accountable to the state would save taxpayers money and make smarter use of scarce public funds to increase economic growth. Overregulation and outdated regulations hurt our community and drive up costs to UB’s students and taxpayers alike. They hinder UB’s ability to operate efficiently and deliver on its promises as a research university.

What is a rational tuition policy?

Such a policy would call for predictable, regular increases in tuition that would provide the university with predictable funding to support high-quality programs and allow parents and students to better plan and budget for expenses. A rational tuition policy will allow UB to invest in excellence, while at the same time expanding access to excellence. More resources would be applied by the university to need-based aid, opening the door to a UB education to many more low-income New York students. The two must go hand-in-hand. Access without excellence is discrimination.

Why is a rational tuition policy needed?

SUNY’s history is marked by large and utterly unpredictable increases in tuition imposed by Albany every several years when the state is in budgetary crisis. Implemented to replace state funding withdrawn from SUNY, these increases have done nothing to grow the net resources of the university. This is not a tuition policy. While these tuition increases may be convenient for New York to balance its budget, their true effect is to force students to pay more and get less. This ad hoc “tuition roulette” practice is as unpredictable as it is irrational.

What has been the effect of not having a rational tuition policy?

The current practice has hampered the university’s ability to provide New Yorkers with access to a high-quality education. It has starved UB of revenue it would use to improve quality and increase financial aid. It is a mistake to believe that keeping tuition artificially low is the best way to help disadvantaged students. Our children deserve access to excellence. Access without excellence is discrimination.

How do we know such a policy would achieve those goals?

We know it will work because for 10 years we’ve had the limited authority to gradually raise the tuition for UB’s Law School. Even after a decade of regular, small increases, our Law tuition remains one of the lowest among our peers. The increased resources have allowed UB Law to provide one of the most innovative and affordable programs in the nation—while offering substantially more financial aid. The Law School has been able to make extraordinary strides in its academic quality, while enhancing its commitment to diversity and access, thanks to a rational tuition policy which provides resources to the Law School.

Are other adjustments to tuition policy necessary?

Yes, UB should have the freedom to charge tuition rates for programs based on the costs of those programs. SUNY is required to charge similar tuition rates for similar programs without regard for the differential costs of supporting a program on different campuses or for what the degree means for recipients’ earning potential. As a public research university, UB bears additional costs beyond those incurred by the smaller four-year colleges within SUNY. However, those costs are not reflected in UB’s tuition rate. Unlike other universities, UB is prohibited by the state from charging a fee that would allow it to recoup its costs and still be a fair-market value for students. UB needs to be able to set tuition levels that take into account its mission, costs, and needs. The ability to do so has been an essential element in the success of outstanding public research universities in California, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and many other states. And that flexibility needs to come with a guarantee that UB’s state funding would remain stable and not be reduced because of its higher tuition rates.

Why does UB need spending and contracting flexibility?

Unlike state university systems and public research universities in many other states, which are subject only to post-audit of expenditures, SUNY and UB are subject to unnecessary pre-review and approval by the offices of the State Comptroller and Attorney General, even when it comes to some smaller purchases and routine licenses for use of space. The Commission on Higher Education, which included experts from the private sector, including independent colleges and universities, recommended that New York streamline these practices. A level playing field with other state systems and public research universities needs to be created for SUNY and UB. Current policies hamper efficient business practices. For example, if appropriate reforms were in place, the state could save $1.5 million on the construction of UB’s new Educational Opportunity Center in downtown Buffalo and build it thirteen months faster. For UB’s new Engineering building on the North Campus, these reforms could save the taxpayers $3.8 million and allow the building to open a year sooner.

Why is access to market capital important?

This authorization is essential if the vast potential of UB 2020 is to be achieved, with significant benefits for our city, for our region, and for our state. Providing the university this authority will allow it to build critical research and campus-life facilities—residential, commercial, and recreational facilities—on multiple tracks in accelerated time frames. These facilities are critical elements of the long-term development of campus research infrastructures and the quality of the campus experience. UB’s success in attracting the best faculty and students absolutely depends on our ability to build these facilities much more quickly and with more ready access to capital sources than can be done through the political process that governs the flow of capital funds today. Providing the university the ability to leverage private sector markets also will permit it to leverage critical capital funds at no cost to the taxpayer.

Why is it important that UB be able to lease or purchase land and facilities?

UB must be able to make the wisest and best use of its land and facilities, and have the ability to create lease or trust agreements with private partners for their development and use. With this authority, UB could enter into agreements with developers to build a hotel and conference center, parking garages, and auxiliary services on its three campuses. It must have the ability to pursue creation of housing, academic buildings, research complexes, and other facilities entrepreneurially and through public-private partnerships, leveraging the taxpayers’ investment with private funds. As Governor Paterson has stated, “The private sector can be a source of innovation, allowing us to increase the value, efficiency and safety of assets like our aging infrastructure system.”

UB must also be able to acquire, through state or UB Foundation funding, land and facilities in conjunction with the university’s comprehensive physical plan being developed to guide changes and growth on its campuses. For example, to relocate its Academic Health Center to downtown Buffalo, UB needs the ability to purchase properties and enter into development projects with multiple partners, as envisioned for the new clinical and translational research center and the urban technology incubator on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. Otherwise, opportunities will be lost, purchase prices will be higher, and the burden on taxpayers will increase.

Last update: February 4, 2009