By State Rep. Gary Moore
(R-Standish)
Special to the Gazette
A theme is emerging on Maine’s college campuses, and it isn’t encouraging. The theme is debt. Not long ago we learned that the University of Southern Maine had been running in the red for years and was forced to raise its debt limit. Maine college students are also in debt and have one of the nation’s highest student loan default rates upon graduation. The situation needs to change.
As a former member of the University of Maine System Board of Trustees, I’ve been critical of the state’s university system of late, due to the outlandish salaries and benefit packages for hundreds of administrators.
In the state’s current fiscal predicament, we need to take a hard look at our public institutions of higher learning and find savings that can be passed on to Maine taxpayers and students.
In 2007, higher education programs received over $262 million and accounted for 8 percent of Maine’s General Fund expenditures. That’s a big investment of tax dollars. But unlike K-12 funding, where budgets are closely examined by locally elected officials, university spending receives minimal scrutiny. You may be surprised at how some of the money we send to our universities is being used.
In the same UMaine system that has no general education requirements for American history, government or economics, there has been a proliferation of dubious departments and course offerings. The online course catalog for the University of Maine in Orono spans 30 pages. I understand that a well-rounded education is important. But some of the courses listed struck me as frivolous and wasteful in an era of global competition, with China and India cranking out new engineers, scientists and computer experts by the hundreds of thousands every year.
At the University of Southern Maine, there is a course called Film Genres, which “explores a genre found in film history…taken from such established ones as science fiction, horror, screwball comedies, musicals, or film noir.” The course description helpfully mentions that it can be repeated for additional credit when the “topic” changes. I suspect today’s college students have already seen enough “screwball comedies” to give them an “appreciation” of the art form. Taxpayers shouldn’t have to subsidize courses like this.
Another course is entitled Communication and AIDS. Obviously, AIDS is a serious disease. However, the course description says the class will cover the topics of media deception, self-disclosure, relationship termination and sex talk. Other courses include Shopping: The Gender and Politics of Consumption; and Diversity Amidst Globalization. There’s even a course that explores the relationship of baseball to American society. And here’s one guaranteed to get you a good job – American Contexts of Witchcraft. Why should a guy working in a mill have to pay taxes to support courses in witchcraft? Why can’t students interested in these topics just buy books about them?
These are just a few of many courses that seem non-essential. Along with new classes and programs come added bureaucracy, staff and overall costs. Take the Department of Peace Studies at UMaine Orono, for instance.
It sounds laudable – who would argue with peace? But is it central to the training and development of Maine’s future workforce? Is there a shortage of professional war protestors?
The Peace Studies website has contact information for 12 faculty and staff members. This is a sizeable staff for this “interdisciplinary curriculum.” The costs of salaries, benefits and pensions for the staff, plus heating and maintaining classrooms, all add up. Our university budgets are now burdened by these peripheral programs, increasing tuition levels for all students.
A recent report by the College Board found that the national average of in-state-tuition and fees at public institutions is $6,185.
The University of Maine was estimated to be $8,330 for the academic school year. Room and board add another $7,500, for an annual cost of $16,000 – plus books. That’s extremely high relative to the median household income in Maine – just over $37,000.
Due to these high costs for in-state students, Maine has the seventh highest student debt level in the nation, and 39 percent of Maine colleges have default rates that are higher than the national average.
If college tuition has become unaffordable, it’s not for a lack of state funding. Maine provides hundreds of millions of dollars to the UMaine system annually and even increased the amount by $40 million in the current budget
The UMaine system can help the students and taxpayers of Maine by making spending reductions that will allow them to lower tuition rates. By focusing on critical skills, such an engineering, science and computer technology, our universities can be real economic drivers.
At a time when the world economy is rapidly changing and technology and innovation are increasingly vital, we must assure that the major investment taxpayers make in our universities will be repaid when our students join the workforce.

Moore serves on the Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee.