RALEIGH – If North Carolina’s community colleges are bursting at the seams, why are some of their leaders trying to create athletic programs to “boost enrollment and recruitment”?
It’s a question that has puzzled me ever since I read a story in the July 20 Triangle Business Journal about the “growing number of community colleges across North Carolina” that have “joined a national movement to establish intercollegiate athletics as a mainstay on campus.” I was surprised to learn that 18 of the state’s 58 community colleges already offer at least one intercollegiate sports team, and others are actively considering the idea.
Let me preface this by saying that, on the matter of government expenditures for higher education, I have long thought the case for subsidizing community colleges to be stronger than the case for subsidizing universities. While advocates of the latter tend to stress potential benefits to low-income students who are the first in their families to attend a university, the fact is that most of those who benefit from UNC subsidies – students, faculty members, researchers, etc. – are far from disadvantaged. Their average household incomes are way above that of the average taxpayer. On the other hand, community colleges deliver services to a broader array of students, including many of modest means. Also, most of the dollars sent to community colleges are actually spent on the salaries of instructors who teach undergraduates something of value and do not spend their time on research, political propaganda, or nonsense.
Unfortunately, the case for (limited) state subsidy of community colleges isn’t helped by the notion, advanced in the TBJ piece, that at least some of the colleges are so hurting for business that they need to start basketball and volleyball teams to attract students. For example, Rockingham Community College President Robert Keys said that many prospective students carry a perception that “real colleges have athletic programs.” It’s bad enough that such a perception exists. It’s worse for state officials to help perpetuate it.
For years, North Carolina community colleges have cited burgeoning enrollment as a key justification for more state appropriations for operating and capital expenses. It was the main reason why the $3.1 billion bond issue for higher education in 2000 included $600 million for community-college campuses. But now, it is said, the colleges need to pretend to be state universities to convince students to attend them. Which is it? I am reminded of a similar contradiction in arguments about local growth. When communities grow rapidly, public officials insist that tax rates must rise to keep up with infrastructure demands. But when communities grow slowly, public officials insist that tax rates must rise because the tax base isn’t growing and because government needs to “invest” in new amenities to get people to move in.
A key difference, at least so far, is that while North Carolina community colleges can spend tax dollars to accommodate enrollment growth, they are not currently allowed to spend tax dollars on athletics. The campuses that have added sports programs have often used private donations to get the ball rolling, as it were. However, private giving to community colleges isn’t nearly as common as to universities. Giving to sports surely trades off significantly with giving to other programs. Moreover, some community colleges are increasing student fees to pay for their athletic offerings. That’s not helpful given that the colleges really need to be charging higher tuition and fees and dedicating the proceeds to instructional salaries and benefits. Students should pay a little more than they do for the academic benefits of community college. They ought not have to pay even more to fund sports programs that, let’s face it, will personally benefit few of them.
Hood is president of the John Locke Foundation.