Utahns should invest in higher education

Looked to as the technology maven of the new economy, Bill Gates was recently asked what the single most important thing his home state of Washington could do to assure its economic future. Gates' response: "Support your local university." Such advice underlies this irrefutable truth: Investing in education is the wisest course any state can pursue because brains are now our most important natural resource.

Utah's state Legislature is on the eve of reconvening and, during the course of the 2004 session, will consider what investment it will make in Utah's universities and colleges. While budget forecasts are suggesting that, for the first time in years, a surplus may greet this coming session rather than a deficit, difficult decisions are yet to be made relative to who gets how much. Now, more than ever, our universities and colleges are in dire need of additional legislative support as we produce graduates who are better prepared to compete in today's ever-demanding global job market.

Some states have taken Gates' advice. The example of Arizona is very instructive. Despite lean budgets and pressing needs, Arizona's legislature voted last year to invest more than $400 million in biotech research labs and facilities, not only at the state's Carnegie I Research Institutions -- Arizona State and the University of Arizona at Tucson -- but also on other campuses throughout the system.

Arizona is not unique. From Alabama and its commitment to a $90 million biomedical research facility at the University of Alabama at Birmingham to Illinois and its $123 million investment in the state's VentureTech Program to North Carolina's staggering $4.5 billion commitment to new buildings and renovations, legislators throughout the country are investing in colleges and universities for the sake of present and future generations. Arizona State University has cited 20 states who have recently invested substantial resources into research space as a strategy for stimulating economic growth. Unfortunately, Utah was not on that list.

But why am I, as president of a small, rural junior college in central Utah, advocating for increased investment into higher education in general and additional dollars for research space in particular? There are many reasons, not the least of which is that Snow College graduates -- just like graduates of other smaller schools within our system -- feed into these programs at our larger campuses throughout the state. More than 70 percent of Snow College graduates leave Ephraim and enroll in four-year programs. The success of our graduates is inextricably linked to the level of support these upper-division and graduate programs receive. Further, there is an interesting link to a college-educated work force and demographic trends currently unfolding in America. A recent Washington Post story titled "Brain Gain Cities Attract Educated Young" chronicled the challenges cities with the lowest percentage of college graduates -- Cleveland, Detroit, Newark, St. Louis -- face as they lose ambitious, young people with graduate degrees. The cities on the winning end of the talent war -- Seattle, Austin, Atlanta, Boston, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.-- have two common denominators: They are in the top 10 for residents with college degrees and have the benefit of a research university in their area.

Now is the time for Utah to invest even more in its institutions of higher education. Daniel Evans and Booth Gardner, both former governors of the state of Washington, are currently urging their state legislatures to consider additional bond capacity of $1.7 billion in order to construct facilities to accommodate 40,000 new students. With language that could be applied to Utah's current situation, these former governors recently wrote: "First, we must be prepared to provide higher education access to the rising tide of high school graduates. Second, the jobs created by this proposal would assist many of our citizens to go back to work. Third, current low interest rates make this an affordable proposition. And finally, we must start reinvesting in our higher education system if we are to retain our status as a progressive and competitive state."

Other states are getting the message and acting upon it. For the sake of our current students and the thousands of projected new students, I implore our Legislature to consider this wisdom from Benjamin Franklin: "An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest."

Michael T. Benson is president of Snow College in Ephraim.

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