Higher education divides McCrory and Cooper in gubernatorial race

Higher education funding has become a central issue to the gubernatorial race on which Democratic candidate and Attorney General Roy Cooper and Gov. Pat McCrory strongly disagree and have different approaches.

As the incumbent, McCrory must run against his education record while Cooper is allowed largely to run on his campaign promises.

McCrory has said he will increase state funding for universities with respect to enrollment but will not support additional funding. Cooper, meanwhile, plans to increase funding for state universities across the board.

Cooper’s only reputation for higher education comes from his time in the state legislature, where he proposed budgets supporting higher education.

McCrory’s reputation comes from the cuts in funding he made throughout the course of his first gubernatorial term. During the budget year of 2013-2014, the McCrory administration proposed cutting roughly $140 million from existing higher education funding and $26 million in the 2015-16 fiscal year.

Jacob Smith, a doctoral candidate in the department of political science at UNC, is concerned that another McCrory term would have serious repercussions for funding in the UNC system.

“I think that the University of North Carolina is unlikely to be able to retain its current position as a treasure under a second McCrory administration,” he said.

Smith said university flexibility over course offerings, quality and tuition are threatened by a second McCrory term.

He said the university would have to cut many faculty from their current payroll if there were additional cuts to funding.

Students will also have to worry about tuition, Smith said — though tuition increases are obviously very bad, stagnant tuition is also troublesome. When tuition doesn’t increase, cuts are often made that decrease the quality of education offered.

Regardless of the proposed cuts, McCrory hasn’t ignored higher education entirely.

“McCrory has had a strong focus during his years as governor on non-traditional routes to getting a degree,” said Jenna Robinson, president of the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy.

She said McCrory has worked to provide a college and vocational track for high school students so they will be both college and career ready. She praised McCrory for devoting attention to the state’s community colleges.

Even with the attention devoted to non-traditional routes of education, Smith said he is still concerned.

He said even within the Republican party, McCrory is an outlier when it comes to funding for education.

“North Carolina governors before McCrory, from both parties, were pro-higher education — pro-education in general,” Smith said.

Smith said the UNC system’s reputation is at risk.

“North Carolina has one of the five best public universities in the United States, and that doesn’t happen by accident, and once that’s gone it’ll take a long time to get it back,” he said.

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