Although budget problems forced several changes on the University this year, President Michael Crow says plans to develop four-year colleges across the state remain on track.
Crow introduced the plans for ASU-run state colleges, called the Colleges of ASU, at an Arizona Board of Regents meeting in December, before the university system took a $141.5 million budget cut.
But the state-college plan continues as an important part of how ASU will look in the next 10 years, Crow told The State Press editorial board on March 2.
“We need that because that’s a way for us to maybe have a lower tuition model,” he said. “That’s a way for us to maybe have a lower state-investment model where the state could invest less per student because it doesn’t cost as much.”
The colleges should cost less for students because they will provide basic four-year bachelor’s degrees without engaging in research.
Crow told regents at a March 12 ABOR meeting that the University is working with four communities to build these colleges. He would not say which communities, but he did say two are in Maricopa County.
Additionally, he said the University believes it can get outside investors to put up money to build the necessary facilities, like it did with the Downtown campus.
This model is an answer to lawmakers’ concerns that the state cannot afford to put every student into a research-intensive school, he said.
Regent Dennis DeConcini called Crow’s plan “very innovative” as long as it doesn’t require a great deal of capital investment.
“If anybody can do it, Michael Crow can do it,” DeConcini said. “He has thought through it, and that’s worthwhile.”
The colleges would serve the people of Arizona well by producing more degrees from a well-known state university, he said. The colleges would also maintain lower tuition than the main University but at levels comparable to Pell Grants, which are capped at around $5,000.
“To me, it has the great benefit of being able to produce a four-year baccalaureate degree without paying an arm and a leg,” he said.
But while he likes the innovative approach of the four-year college plan, DeConcini said he feels there are other ways to reach a similar result.
“My approach to this thing is that the community colleges ought to be authorized to give four-year degrees if they meet the curriculum requirement,” he said, “There’s some opposition to that.”
Either way, he said, smaller, cheaper four-year colleges in Arizona will help residents.
The average recipient of a four-year degree makes twice as much income over their lifetime compared with someone without such a degree, he said.
“To me, that speaks for itself,” he said. “It would be very wise for the Legislature to fund even the capital [investment] necessity.”
Reach the reporter at adam.sneed@asu.edu.
