North Dakota Universities Crumble as Oil Cash Pours In North Dakota is struggling to finance deteriorating public universities even as it experiences the biggest energy boom in its history, raising concern that less prosperous states will face more serious funding challenges. Students returning this week will attend classes in buildings without adequate ventilation or fire detection systems and in historic landmarks with buckling foundations. A space crunch is making it difficult for researchers to obtain grants and putting the accreditation of several programs at risk, administrators say. “It’s embarrassing,” said North Dakota state Representative Kathy Hawken, a Republican from Fargo who sits on the higher education funding and budget committees. “We have a divided legislature on higher ed: Some think we put too much money into it and some think we don’t put enough. Buildings aren’t people, so we don’t put dollars there.” Throughout the U.S., higher education institutions face growing repair bills as state appropriations dwindle. Arizona’s three universities need $511 million in maintenance. In Texas and Colorado, universities face $394 million and $248 million in costs, respectively. As North Dakota’s energy boom strains roads and water and sewer systems, its 11 public universities face an $808 million maintenance backlog. Repairs Lag Repairs to the campuses lag as [...] newsintx/north-dakota-universities-crumble-as-oil-cash-pours-in/
Posted on: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 09:02:54 +0000
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