Maricopa Community College leaders ask state for vital aid
May 30
Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) leaders are asking the state to reinstate funding for foundational operating aid that the district hasn’t received since 2015.
The community college district has gone without more than $655 million in operating aid, even though the district is entitled to that aid by state law, according to Maricopa Community Colleges Chancellor Steven Gonzales.
Both Maricopa Community Colleges and Pima Community Districts are the only districts that have not received operating aid. Currently, rural area districts are prioritized to receive operational aid since there are less funding options available in those areas.
Without the aid, MCCCD has been forced to rely on tuition and local property taxes for more than a decade. The aid is based on a formula that’s tied to student enrollment. Gonzales discussed how the withheld aid impacts the district.
“We are the largest provider of workforce development in our state, which goes hand-in-hand with a strong economy. It has really harmed our ability to expand important programs, to employ the types of people that will be directly in front of our students. We’ve had to make some difficult choices over the past several years,” Gonzales said.
How does the withheld aid impact MCCCD?
Every year, the district educates between 150,000 – 160,000 students, meaning the colleges play a vital role in the state’s economic workforce. Not receiving the aid prevents the district from being able to pour back into the state economy and workforce.
“We would like for our state legislators to see the Maricopa Community Colleges District as an investment that the state makes. We’ve been able to prove that for every $1.00 you invest in MCCCD, you get to see a $4.00 rate of return,” Gonzales said.
State legislators have not prioritized restoring the operational aid and Gonzales said he doesn’t quite understand why it’s not a part of the state’s budget, when MCCCD is a pipeline for the state’s workforce.
Gonzalez said that 90% of MCCCD graduates continue to live and work within Maricopa County. The district has had to implement budget cuts to student services and workforce programs.
Another major impact Gonzalez discussed is that MCCCD was selected to educate students in becoming certified semiconductor technicians. The district was given the responsibility of producing 10,000 -15,000 technicians to help fill Arizona’s semiconductor workforce.
But, without the operating aid meeting this goal is challenging.
The district has not raised tuition for four-consecutive years because leaders want tuition to remain affordable and accessible for all students, but Gonzales said they have reached a tipping point.
“At a time when Arizona is experiencing unprecedented economic growth, restoring this operating aid is essential to the state’s future. We cannot effectively scale the workforce of tomorrow on yesterday’s depleted funding models,” Gonzalez said in a press release.
Reporting by “Arizona Horizon” Education Solutions Reporter Roxanne De La Rosa. Her role is made possible through grant funding from the Arizona Local News Foundation’s Arizona Community Collaborative Fund and Report for America.
