State Funding Decreases for Engineering Schools

With traditional state-funding support starting to dry up as a result of the downturned economy, public engineering schools are concerned about maintaining the quality of their programs and providing competitive salaries for faculty members.

By Staff June 25, 2001

With traditional state-funding support starting to dry up as a result of the downturned economy, public engineering schools are concerned about maintaining the quality of their programs and providing competitive salaries for faculty members.

For example, at the University of Alabama, a 6.2-percent reduction in state funding has forced the engineering school to freeze all hiring and purchasing of equipment, as reported in a recent article published by the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE). In Ohio, the usual annual state funding increase of 5.6 percent has been trimmed to 2 percent.

As a result, engineering schools may have difficulty competing with the private sector to hire PhDs. In addition, the schools may be forced to rely more on research funding, potentially forcing a situation where faculty has less time their students.

For more information on funding for engineering schools, visit www.asee.org .