Higher-Ed Leaders Urge Preserving USNH Funding

Melinda Treadwell issued the statement about the proposed 30 percent reduction late last month before the N.H. House approved the proposal on April 10 as part of a budget for the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years.

The state already ranks low in its support for higher education. In fact, a 2023 report from the N.H. Fiscal Policy Institute found that the $3,699 the state spends per full time equivalent student in public higher education was last among all states.

The N.H. Senate will likely formulate its own budget and then work to reconcile any differences with the House plan. A compromise proposal would then be considered by Gov. Kelly Ayotte.

The House action was taken along party lines, with most Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed.

Treadwell noted the House’s proposal “is just one step in the long biennial budget process,” and said that she, USNH Chancellor Cathy Provencher, Plymouth State University President Don Birx and University of New Hampshire President Elizabeth Chilton have met with House and Senate members.

“We continue to make our case that public higher education merits strong support from the state.”

Released Wednesday to bolster that case is an analysis commissioned by the N.H. College and University Council, saying that nonprofit higher education institutions in New Hampshire generated a total impact of $7.6 billion on the state’s economy in 2023.

The study also found that more than 50,000 jobs statewide were supported or sustained by the system.

“The combined economic impact of higher education and related alumni in New Hampshire is transformative, driving innovation, workforce development, and community vitality. Our state has what our students need to access the education they want to meet their personal goals,” Treadwell said in a news release Wednesday about the study.

Treadwell is the chair of the council, a nonprofit consortium of colleges and universities that collaborate to expand education opportunities across the state.

“Nonprofit, higher education institutions are essential engines of opportunity, preparing individuals and powering the state’s economy for the challenges of tomorrow,” she said.

Parker Strategy Group, a Philadelphia-based consulting firm, conducted the study, which looked at higher education expenditures, the spending impact of students and visitors and the impact of alumni.

The Business and Industry Association has also expressed support for preserving higher education funding.

However, N.H. Rep. Dan McGuire, R-Epsom, vice chair of the House Finance Committee, defended the proposed 30 percent cut before the full House on April 10.

“In my mind that’s my personal favorite cut,” he said. “Anyone in New Hampshire who wants to donate money to the university system can do so.”

McGuire argued that there are higher priorities than supporting public universities.

“For every dollar we give to the university system, it’s one less dollar for what in my feeling is a higher priority — kids, the elderly, sick people, disabled people, all that kind of thing.”

He said most New Hampshire adults are not college graduates and yet they are taxed to support a university system that benefits its students and employees.

Gov. Ayotte produced her own budget last month, which called for an 8 percent cut in support for the state’s university system.

In-state tuition, which has been frozen for six years across the state schools, is set to increase next school year under a decision by the USNH trustees in October.

Undergraduate in-state tuition costs next school year will rise a maximum of 2.5 percent on the UNH Durham campus and at Keene State College, 3 percent at Plymouth State University and 5 percent at the UNH Manchester campus.

A 2024 report by the Education Data Initiative found the state’s average yearly tuition for four-year public colleges was $17,019, second-highest in the nation, behind only Vermont.