By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor

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Differential tuition and a rational tuition policy—two issues long advocated by President John B. Simpson—are among the recommendations in a preliminary report that the New York State Commission on Higher Education submitted to Gov. Eliot Spitzer on Monday.

The commission, which was charged with identifying ways to improve the quality of higher education in New York, also is calling for hiring an additional 2,000 full-time faculty, including 250 eminent scholars, over the next five years and creating a $3 billion Empire State Innovation Fund to support research proposals with significant economic development promise.

The tuition reforms are part of a New York State Compact for Public Higher Education that would be established to ensure the state's public higher education institutions are properly funded.

Simpson has been a strong proponent of regular, predictable tuition increases, rather than the large, unanticipated increases that have been the norm in SUNY, as well as allowing institutions to charge different tuition to reflect differences in institutional mission and costs. He has maintained that these reforms are crucial in order for UB to achieve the academic excellence outlined in the UB 2020 strategic planning process.

"In order for New York's public universities and colleges to achieve greatness we need stronger, clearer funding, better financial aid, less regulation and more support for innovation and research," said Simpson, a member of the commission who was in Albany for the release of the preliminary report. "UB faculty are the best in the world; we simply need more of them," he added.

"The truth is our state has become less competitive and less innovative, mainly because public research universities, such as the University at Buffalo, have not been given the tools and autonomy they need to do what they do best—create knowledge and use it to fuel the economy.

"If we really want a public higher education system that rivals the very best, our state's elected officials, education leaders and citizens need to make the smart decisions necessary to get there," he said. "The rewards will be great. The cost of not doing so is huge—decades more of slow decline and a major loss of economic potential for New York State."

Spitzer is expected to take the commission's recommendations into consideration when developing education policies and programs that will be part of his upcoming State of the State address and 2008-09 budget.

"If we are going to rebuild New York, we have to invest in New York," Spitzer said. "Where the great universities are, there the jobs have followed. Excellence in higher education is a key to our state's future and the commission's recommendations will go a long way toward achieving that goal."

Among the commission's major recommendations:

• Creating a low-cost student loan program for residents attending college in New York State.

• Modifying SUNY's governance structure and system executive staff to provide more focused attention and support for the research campuses.

• Providing meaningful regulatory relief for SUNY and CUNY by removing restrictions that impede campuses' ability to adapt quickly and promote quality.

• Developing Educational Partnership Zones in high-need school districts that would bring together higher education and pre-K-12 resources to improve student outcomes and enhance college participation.

• Creating a program that would guarantee free college tuition for seventh- and eighth-grade students who meet math and English language standards, as well as high school graduation requirements, in these Education Partnership Zones.

• Ensuring high school graduates are well prepared for college through a College Readiness Act.

• Strengthening transfer of academic credits between colleges throughout SUNY and CUNY with a goal of seamless transfer between similar programs by 2011-12.

• Addressing the backlog of critical maintenance at SUNY and CUNY with a sustained program of capital reinvestment.

The commission's final report is due to the governor by June 1, 2008.