The Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents announced a new formula for funding the state's colleges and universities that would mean a shift in dollars from North to South.
The new system would allot dollars based on credits completed at the school rather than the number of students enrolled, which is how they have done it in the past.
"I think it is a reasonable, data-based, sound philosophical approach," NSHE Chancellor Dan Klaich said. "If I didn't feel that way, I wouldn't be pushing it forward."
The plan was originally meant to make the funding process more transparent and fair, but according to NSHE spokespeople, when they ran the numbers, it showed cuts for Northern Nevada schools and budget increases for Southern Nevada schools.
The University of Nevada would be looking at a $1.3 million cut, part of about $13 million that would be cut from the North and headed down South. Northern Nevada's community colleges would bear the brunt of the cuts, with Truckee Meadows Community College losing $2.9 million, Western Nevada College losing $4.5 million and Great Basin College losing $4.6 million.
That $13 million would be redistributed among the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the College of Southern Nevada and Nevada State College in Henderson.
When asked how he would respond to Northern Nevada schools protesting further cuts, Klaich said it's regrettable, and that they would mitigate the cuts with a $5 million pad applied over four years.
Cuts aside -- Klaich said the goal is a noble one, and that it would boost graduation rates in the long run.
"I don't think it's enough that we just enroll students," Klaich said. "I think that we've got to make sure that those students that we enroll complete their courses."
On Wednesday an interim legislative committee on funding for higher education will hold a meeting at UNLV to discuss the issue, and they will be streaming the meeting live online here.
If the new formula passes the legislature, it would take effect in the fall of 2013.
Written by Arianna Bennett
