TRENTON — The best way to begin a sweeping overhaul of New Jersey’s public colleges and universities is to bring back a cabinet-level office for higher education, former Gov. Thomas H. Kean told legislators Thursday, suggesting the state borrow money to pay for the changes. "We have not had since the (Department of Higher Education) was abolished any real...
Former Gov. Tom Kean, chairman of Gov. Chris Christie's higher education task force, appears in this February file photo.TRENTON — The best way to begin a sweeping overhaul of New Jersey’s public colleges and universities is to bring back a cabinet-level office for higher education, former Gov. Thomas H. Kean told legislators Thursday, suggesting the state borrow money to pay for the changes.
"We have not had since the (Department of Higher Education) was abolished any real advocate for higher education in state government," Kean said. "When appropriations and everything else has been talked about around the table, higher education has had no voice."
Kean, a Republican who served as governor from 1982-90, is the chairman of Gov. Chris Christie’s higher education task force. In January, the task force released a report that included a long wish list: increased funding for colleges and universities, an end to tuition caps, a new approach to distributing state aid to public colleges and other proposals.
Many of those changes have bipartisan support, but don’t come free, and it’s unclear how the government plans to raise the money. Testifying before the Senate budget committee, Kean said issuing bonds might be the way.
"We’ve got great colleges and universities but they’re starting to look a little shabby, because the last bond issue was in 1988," said Kean, a former president of Drew University.
Politicians in Trenton have not agreed on a plan to issue bonds, however. Montclair State University President Susan Cole and Rutgers University President Richard McCormick, who testified with Kean, said they hope voters can settle the matter through a referendum next year.
But Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts said the governor has no plans to borrow money because of the tough economic climate. A referendum can’t get on the ballot without Christie’s approval.
"We will discuss the merits of a bond issue when it is practical," Roberts said.
Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen), the committee chairman, said Democrats have tried to act on the task force recommendations, only to be rebuffed by the governor.
Christie has been slow to appoint a new higher education secretary, Sarlo said, and he vetoed a Democratic bill in February that established private-public business partnerships modeled after the task force report.
"I hope that we’re going to be able to deliver on what the task force calls for," he said.
"Gov. Christie Whitman disbanded the Department of Higher Education in 1994 in an effort to cut the size of government. Now Gov. Chris Christie is planning to appoint a new cabinet-level officer with similar responsibilities.
"We will announce the nomination of a secretary of higher education once we have selected an individual to serve in that role," Roberts said.
New Jersey ranks 47th in the country on higher-education funding, Kean said. That could have serious consequences down the road, he said, because the state depends on its colleges and universities for other priorities such as attracting businesses and caring for the neediest.
"We have been basically defunding higher education for at least a 20-year period," Kean said. "I know the tremendous problems you have right now with this budget. Nobody understands it better than I do; I went through two recessions as governor."