Governor Bill Haslam says more savings can be found in focusing the missions of the state’s universities than merging them into one system. He addressed members of the Tennessee Higher Education System Wednesday.
It depends who does the math, but Tennessee colleges and universities stand to lose millions of dollars this year, mostly federal stimulus money that’s drying up.
Haslam says getting rid of redundant programs in each system should happen before talking about an idea floated by his predecessor, Phil Bredesen, to merge UT and the Board of Regents systems.
“While there are some dollars involved there – big dollars – it doesn’t come near the scope of what I think we can address by saying, ‘what should each individual school be?’”
While dealing with shrinking budgets, Haslam also wants to improve the state’s graduation rate. Fewer than half of students finish college in six years. Haslam says he’d like to modify the lottery scholarship to pay for things like summer terms. Anything that helps students graduate more quickly, he says, is “a good thing.”
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