Early Bird

Davidson advocates for higher ed on Bell Policy Center podcast

MSU Denver president discusses history of disinvestment in higher education and notes that communal action is necessary in this time of crisis.

By Lindsey Coulter

May 27, 2020

President Janine Davidson, Ph.D., joined the Bell Policy Center’s Rocky Mountain Policy Pod last week to discuss the urgent and continued need for investment in higher education. In the episode, which was Part One of the organization’s new public funding series, Davidson and host Scott Wasserman, Bell Policy Center president, discussed the repercussions of pandemic-related cuts to higher-education funding and the Colorado state budget as a whole.

“We have to stop thinking about education as a commodity or as some private good that you go out and purchase and that it’s every person for themselves,” Davidson said. “In fact, in a crisis it should be the opposite. As a civil society, we should be doing what Americans pride themselves on, which is that kind of communal action.”

Davidson also highlighted the historical disinvestment in higher-education funding, noting that at one point the state funded 70% of higher education, with the remaining 30% supported by tuition dollars. Today, those numbers have flipped, placing an increased burden on institutions to raise tuition.

The episode also includes insights from Bell Policy Center analyst Andrea Kuwik, who discussed the complicated world of human services; Rural Schools Alliance President Michelle Murphy, who spoke to the challenges faced by rural schools; and former state Budget Director Henry Sobanet’s perspective on how to keep the state running through the health and budget crises.