This week the University of Washington hosted a regional meeting of the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities to discuss future funding for public universities nationally.

The Presidents and other top leaders from approximately 30 colleges and universities in the Western United States discussed their common experiences and strategized about how to “reset” their finances.

Common among the discussion was the concern that higher education continues to be the first area to get cut by states facing lower revenues and paying more for other public services/programs.

Strategies proposed incorporated a wide range of ideas including increased federal funding for institutions to make-up for the gap in reduced state funds and a model in which each state could have one univesity funded by the federal government, eliminating the need for out-of-state tuition surcharges at those institutions.

At the state level several strategies were also proposed inlcuding asking state lawmakers to set aside a fixed percentage of the budget for higher educaiton, emphasizing the job-creation record of universities, promoting achievements such as green technology, and telling people what is at risk.

The meeting is one of five taking place across the nation in hopes of developing a national strategy for securing the future of higher education institutions.