Lowering tuition and improving the facilities at Mississippi Valley State University are two of the top priorities for the institution, according to the Mississippi commissioner of higher education.
With some of the dormitories at MVSU crumbling and other parts of campus badly needing improvement, Dr. Hank Bounds told the Greenwood Voters League Wednesday night that the university needs significant help.
In the meantime, Bounds said he was seeking about $3 million from the Legislature to drop per-semester tuition at least $1,000 in order to help attract and retain more students at the Itta Bena institution.
The commissioner said turning around declining enrollment at Valley — which has dropped in eight of the last nine years — is the key to ensuring the future of the university.
Bounds said the dormitories and other amenities at Valley haven’t kept pace with improvements at other universities throughout the state and the South, making it hard for the school to compete.
At the same time, the university’s tuition — currently $2,958 per semester — isn’t dramatically lower than elsewhere. Tuition at the University of Mississippi is $3,380 per semester for an in-state student.
Bounds said that many Valley students come from less-affluent homes, with more than 80 percent of them dependent on federal Pell Grants to help pay for school. As tuition costs have risen nationwide, Bounds said that’s put many families who would send their children to Valley in a tough position.
Dwindling state backing of all of Mississippi’s public universities has also put the squeeze on lower- income families and driven up tuition, Bounds said. A decade ago, according to the commissioner, Valley received approximately 60 percent of its funding from the state and about 30 percent from tuition. “Today, that’s been completely flipped,” Bounds said.
The amenities at other schools such as Ole Miss, Bounds said, “are dramatically different than what you have at Valley.”
With increased competition for students — not just within the state, but regionally — Bounds said it’s become more imperative than ever that the state invest in improving Valley and making the institution more attractive to potential students.
Bounds pointed to last week’s visit to Valley’s campus by U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Gov. Phil Bryant — the first by a sitting governor in more than a decade — as encouraging signs that funding for improved facilities and campus upgrades may soon be on the way.
Responding to a question from a Valley faculty member who complained of not having received a raise in 13 years, Bounds said that making faculty salaries more competitive would be a key to retaining strong teachers and attracting talented students.
“We are not competitive at all in faculty salaries,” Bounds said, indicating that in many instances professors are paid 20 percent less than at comparable institutions elsewhere. “We are losing faculty in some places in this state at an alarming rate.”
Still, Bounds said that declining enrollment at the school has been the number one factor holding back faculty salaries, not only because of dropping revenue from tuition but also because the state appropriates funds to universities largely based on the number of students.
“Short of stopping the bleeding with enrollment decreases and increasing the number of students, I sincerely fear for the future,” Bounds said.
The commissioner spoke glowingly of Valley President William Bynum, calling him “exactly the right man for the job.” Bynum said that early indications were encouraging, with applications last spring. Bynum said he was anticipating that enrollment at Valley this fall would be flat or even up slightly.
Bounds also dismissed past proposals by former governors Kirk Fordice and Haley Barbour to close Valley or to merge the university with other public historically black institutions.
Bounds said the low proportion of Mississippi adults with a college education — which Bounds said was the lowest in the nation — was a clear sign that state residents needed more, not fewer, opportunities to earn a degree.
In the Delta, Bounds said, the region’s economic and social future is very much tied to the success of Valley and increased educational opportunities for Delta residents. “We need Valley to flourish if this area is going to do well,” he said. “The potential to change this community really does hang around the schoolhouse door.”
• Contact Bryn Stole at 581-7235 or bstole@gwcommonwealth.com.
