Presidential Perspective

Efficient overachievers

New state budget addresses history of funding disparity

After extended negotiations in the Virginia General Assembly, Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the commonwealth’s two-year budget on June 21, months later than in typical years. But for James Madison University, it was worth the wait.

JMU received more tuition moderation funding as well as added financial aid for students. Even more significantly, the new budget includes additional base-adequacy funding, which aims to put JMU on more equitable financial footing — after years of underfunding — relative to other Virginia public colleges and universities.

You would never know it based on our reputation for excellence, but JMU has been Virginia’s lowest-funded public institution on a per in-state student annualized basis for years. In fiscal year 2021, JMU received $6,200 per student, well below the $8,250 average for four-year institutions. Our recent rise to a doctoral/high research institution in the Carnegie Commission classification puts us even further below the $8,646 average for our type.

Given that JMU is regarded as one of the top schools in Virginia, you should be proud that we accomplish a lot with relatively little. JMU graduation rates are among the highest in the commonwealth, JMU student and alumni satisfaction have been in the mid-90% range for years, and the university’s reputation among lawmakers in Richmond for being an excellent steward of taxpayer money is sterling. We pride ourselves on being efficient overachievers!

The reasons for JMU’s relative underfunding from the commonwealth are many and historical. A recent piece in our student newspaper, The Breeze, stated, “This is the result of the university’s founding as an institution educating women and its reputation of making the best of a sometimes underwhelming operational budget.” Caitlyn Read (’10, ’18M), director of state government relations at JMU, said in the article: “When you look at some of the schools that have historically received less state funding, they tend to be schools like JMU, Longwood or Mary Washington that all started as institutions to educate women, because it used to be cheaper to educate a woman. Now, we know that’s not our reality.”

So, it is excellent news that in both years of our current biennial budget allocation from Virginia’s General Fund, JMU will receive $6 million increases in our base budget to help the institution catch up to its better-funded peers. Such an investment will pay strong dividends in enhancing the already stellar Madison Experience. Plus, it will

bring JMU closer to equity among its peers, which is critical in times when upward pressures on costs have put pressure on tuition even as we seek to increase access and affordability for students from all backgrounds. And given JMU’s relatively low tuition, when JMU raises tuition by, say, 3%, it is a much smaller increase in actual dollars than other schools raising tuition by the same percentage, because their base tuition as a starting point is much higher. Because many people focus on such percentages rather than actual dollar amounts, however, JMU is perceived as increasing by the same amount. Increases in our base budget will help to reduce this historical disparity. Please thank elected officials in your district for their commitment to education in the commonwealth overall — and especially for the elevated investment in JMU this past legislative session. While you might hear in advertising for investment funds that “past per“When you look at some formance is no guarantee of future results,” I can promise you that investments in the of the schools that have dedicated faculty and staff members at JMU historically received less state funding, they ... all started as institutions will continue to pay strong dividends in the lives of our students and alumni, and in the economic vibrancy of Virginia. Finally, in other positive financial news, to educate women.” JMU donors took giving off the charts this — CAITLYN READ (’10,’18M), past fiscal year — literally! You might be director of state government relations aware that Unleashed: The Campaign for James Madison University doubled annual giving to the university; fiscal year 2021’s then-record of $23.2 million was the seventh consecutive year that giving remained in the $20 million neighborhood annually. But this year’s total of $34.7 million absolutely blew away past records — another indicator that more and more alumni and friends of the university are engaged and also see JMU as a wise investment. That’s “Supporting Student Success,” which is the theme of this issue of Madison. Thank you to the thousands of dedicated benefactors who care deeply about our institution and students. Meaningful stories about the impact of your generosity are in the Unleashed section of these pages. Jonathan R. Alger president, James Madison University