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Commentary
Is George Mason's bright star fading?
by Brett Lieberman
When developer John "Til"
Hazel Jr. helped launch the newly independent George
Mason University in the early 1970s, he saw it as a
major boost for the future of Northern Virginia. The
college would pull together the region's disparate politicians
and help meet needs of the area's surging population.
By granting doctoral degrees, it would evolve as a strong
competitor to better-known area universities.
Indeed, for two decades, George Mason came on strong,
serving Northern Virginians while carving out a niche
in the study of political science and economics with
a neo-conservative bent. Its professors have won recognition
for the upstart by appearing on serious news and talk
shows, such as PBS's News Hour with Jim Lehrer. One
favorite talking head was Francis Fukuyama, a former
State Department official turned GMU professor whose
seminal book, "The End of History," noted
capitalism's triumph over Soviet communism and helped
set the tone for the Bush and Clinton Administrations.
Now, however, George Mason's luster seems to be tarnishing.
GMU is in desperate need of funding to eliminate overcrowding
that forced some students to start this year in a hotel,
improve student-teacher ratios and provide new research
and academic facilities to attract top faculty. Already,
there are disturbing signs of backsliding. Fukuyama,
for example, recently left for the School for Advanced
International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, saying
he got a better offer.
Though located in the richest region of the state, GMU
has been hobbled by a decade of insufficient funding,
supporters such as Hazel claim. State support has fallen
short for the higher education system as a whole - statewide
the operating shortfall could be as much as $200 million
annually, according to the legislature's Joint Subcommittee
on Higher Education Funding Policies - but nowhere is
the deficit more visible than at George Mason, which
is located in the fastest-growing metro area in the
state and serves the region's world-class information-technology
and telecommunications industry. GMU receives just $11,700
in support per in-state full-time-equivalent student
- half the $22,091 that U.Va. receives. Even when out
of state students are factored in, support for GMU trails
U.Va. by $5,000.
GMU is ranked last among 23 peer public colleges and
universities around the country for state support per
student. Among the six doctoral degree-granting institutions
in Virginia, GMU also ranks last. "If you don't
have the resources, no matter how good everything else
is, it's difficult to catch up with the competition
or do what you need for your area or state," says
Donald Finley, executive director of the Virginia Business
Higher Education Council.
Relatively young by higher education standards, George
Mason hasn't had time to build the financial support
that other schools have, nor has it had time to snare
big donations from wealthy business people in Northern
Virginia who have benefited immensely from the high-tech
boom of the 1990s. Northern Virginia is home to six
of Virginia's eight billionaires and dozens of millionaires,
yet George Mason's endowment is a modest $34 million,
compared to $1.7 billion for the University of Virginia.
This isn't to say that George Mason is completely falling
apart. Federal grants have doubled over the last five
years and annual private giving is up 150 percent to
$25 million. University President Alan G. Merten wants
to double funding from businesses and government grants
and add academic buildings and 2,000 dorm rooms. All
in all, GMU's immediate capital needs total $150 million.
"The state's got to do its share," he says,
adding, "Money is a challenge, because it's going
to have to be both state and private. Are Virginia's
business leaders and Virginia's government leaders really
interested in higher education? Is there going to be
a lot of talk or is there going to be action?"
Officials of the out-going Gilmore administration say
they've done plenty. "Funding for higher education
under Jim Gilmore has increased exponentially, not least
of all at George Mason," says press secretary Lila
White.
Meanwhile, Merten is trying to counter funding and defection
problems with fundraising and aggressive recruitment.
It worked at the GMU law school, which just two years
ago was considered "third tier" in national
ratings and now is in the Top 50, thanks to a budget
increase of 55 percent and more faculty. Merten also
has bagged some big-time academics at a time when names
such as Fukuyama are defecting. Recent additions include
six internationally renowned economists from the University
of Arizona, including Vernon L. Smith, considered a
likely Nobel Prize winner.
The question is whether piecemeal funding and faculty
raids will be enough. Sticking to the tightwad policies
of the past decade will doom not only GMU, but all state
schools. Virginia colleges are already finding it pays
more to admit out-of-state students. Who wants to tell
the 38,000 additional students who will graduate in
the next decade that their best chance of attending
college is in North Carolina?
Return
to Virginia Business - November 2001
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