The legislative session is winding down, and it looks like the Legislature is going to provide significant new support for public and higher education this year. As the session winds down, there will inevitably be news coverage pronouncing “higher education was a winner” in this year’s budget. This strikes me as a very peculiar notion. Can an institution like higher education, public education, or social services be a winner? I think not.

Higher education, and the business education component that is my little corner of the University, exists to serve the greater social good by preparing the next generation of leaders for Utah and the world. An educated and skilled work force supports the high technology companies that are Utah’s promise for the future, individuals with college degrees will generate more than a million dollars in greater lifetime earnings than a high school graduate, which means they pay considerably more taxes, and college graduates participate in their communities more extensively than those without college degrees, partly because they are making more money and can afford to spend some of their free time on community affairs and participating in government. College graduates also serve in leadership roles in many arenas, including the arts, social services, non-profits leadership, education, government, and in business. Support for higher education opens the opportunity of higher education to a broader segment of our society, and clearly these individuals win and society wins.

You may be thinking “good in theory,” but more money is more money. Yes. I have budget responsibilities for an organization of about 150 employees, and everyone is glad there will be raises. But state support for higher education also means a lower tuition increase than might otherwise have occurred, which means the students who are attending the state’s higher education institutions will pay less for their education and probably a few students who might otherwise have been unable to afford an education will be able to attend a college or university. So, a few citizens of Utah, who are hard working and have remained hard working through a long series of disappointing pay years from 2002 to 2006, will finally get a little bit of an inflation catch up and a large group of students, who are the sons and daughters, grandchildren, and neighbors of everyone in Utah will get a break that will help them realize their full potential to contribute back.

The “winners” when the State invests in education at every level are the citizens of the State. The money goes to directly benefit the children and young adults who are the future of this state, and these young people are our children. The institutions are not the winners, it is the people who benefit from the commitment and qualifications of the teachers and staff who are the winners. To borrow a paraphrase: “We have met the winners, and they are us.”

Let’s have a party! And let’s remember when it comes time to make hard choices that those who are the winners from investment are also the losers when we fail to support the children and young adults who are our future through the tough times.

Later.