MCC’s finances can be complex and confusing, particularly for a lay person. In this difficult economy, not understanding the college’s finances can add to one’s worries and stresses. So, today we are launching Financial FAQs—your opportunity to get answers to MCC financial questions that might be on your mind.
Send your questions to <mailto:marcom@monroecc.edu>. Administrative Services and College and Community Relations will work together to answer your questions in upcoming issues of the MCC Daily Tribune. There is no such thing as a dumb question – but we also understand that you might not want your colleagues to know what you don’t know, so we won’t use questioners’ names in our responses.
Q: I keep hearing different things about MCC’s “funding formula.” What is it?
A: There are three major partners in the funding formula for SUNY community colleges—students, New York state government and local share. Local share is primarily funds from the community college’s local sponsor—in MCC’s case, Monroe County government—but also includes other sources, like funds other counties in New York pay when their residents enroll at MCC. (You’ll hear these referred to as chargebacks.)
You may have heard that the funding formula for the three major partners is “1/3-1/3-1/3.” That is, each partner is supposed to pay one-third of the net cost of operating MCC. That was the formula until the early 1970’s, when New York state invited community colleges to become full-opportunity colleges. (More on “full-opportunity” in a minute.) For those community colleges that accepted that designation—including MCC—the formula became 33.3% from student tuition, 26.7% in local share and up to 40% from the state.
Everything I’ve described to this point has been theory. Theoretically, this is how community colleges are to be funded. Now let’s talk reality.
For MCC’s 2008-2009 operating budget, student tuition accounts for 44.0% of the revenue, local share 18.5%, and state aid 37.5%. Why theory doesn’t match reality is another long discussion with many answers!
Back to the definition of “full-opportunity.” Full-opportunity colleges are those that agree to admit all high school graduates from the previous year’s graduating classes in their service area. For example, as a full-opportunity community college, this fall MCC was obligated to admit any graduate from the Rush-Henrietta Class of 2008 who applied. That doesn’t mean that each Rush-Henrietta graduate must be admitted into the program of his or her choice; a program’s entrance requirements still apply.
I’d like to think that this FAQ answered all of your questions. More likely, it raised some questions in your mind. So, ask away! Send your questions to <mailto:marcom@monroecc.edu>.
Cynthia Cooper and Heze Simmons
College and Community Relations, Administrative Services
12/10/2008 |