HIGHER EDUCATION UNDER NEW LEADERS: SOUTHEAST OFFICIALS VIEW THE FUTURE

Two top officials at Southeast Missouri State University are voicing cautious optimism about the future of higher education under new federal and state administrations.

Southeast's president, Kala Stroup, and vice president of finance and administration, Ken Dobbins, voiced their views in separate interviews with the Southeast Missourian.

Both said they feel President-elect Bill Clinton and Gov.-elect Mel Carnahan are supportive of higher education.

But they stressed that in terms of funding at Southeast, the state government and not the federal government is the key player.

"The federal level involvement in higher education goes to the students, it does not go to the university," said Stroup.

Federal funding of higher education centers on student loans and grants. It's state funding that pays for the nuts and bolts operations of colleges and universities.

Stroup said Carnahan has expressed an interest in looking at funding alternatives for higher education, such as bond issues.

"He was sympathetic to some of our needs," she added. "I don't think he necessarily had a solution to them."

But she said, "We know he is sympathetic and understands the issue."

Stroup said, however, that the new governor will face an old problem limited revenue. "He is not going to find any new money because there isn't any there.

"What we need is a turnaround in the economy," she observed.

Both Stroup and Dobbins said it is too early to forecast the revenue picture for higher education in Missouri for the next fiscal year.

"We are thinking of getting the (university's) Budget Review Committee together before the end of the semester," said Dobbins.

But both Stroup and Dobbins said a real clear financial picture will probably not emerge until Carnahan delivers his state of the state address in January.

"We will be up there listening with all ears," said Dobbins. "We are just hoping we won't have cuts," said Dobbins.

As for Clinton, their views mirror those of educators nationally who basically have been supportive of the Arkansas governor and his plan for creating a new student loan program. The plan would give college students the option of working off their loans through public service, or paying them off at a rate that is a percentage of their earnings after graduation.

Educators see the plan as a way to make student loans more widely available.

"I think the higher education community tended to be pretty supportive of Clinton," Stroup said Friday.

"The presidents of the universities in Arkansas were pretty complimentary of his leadership in elementary, secondary and higher education," said Stroup.

The student loan plan advocated by Clinton is not new, she said. "The plan that he has been talking about on repayment of loans has been out there in the higher education community for a number of years."

With escalating tuition in recent years, Stroup said educators are "worried that a number of students graduate with sizable debts."

Tying repayment of loans to a national service program is intended to "improve the quality of life in our society," Stroup said.

Stroup said such a program could be beneficial to areas of Southeast Missouri suffering from poverty, illiteracy and inadequate health care.

"It would be of benefit to Southeast Missouri because our students are the kind that would return and help these communities," she said.

In addition, Stroup said, it would help those making relatively low salaries, who otherwise would have greater difficulty paying off their student loans.

Dobbins said, "If he (Clinton) can carry out some of his ideas in overhauling the student loan program and re-implement what the reauthorization (of the education act) has started, I think it will probably make it easier to get financial aid."

Dobbins said the idea of tying repayment of student loans to public service is already in place in a limited way for those who agree to serve in high-risk areas in professions such as teaching and health care.

Stroup said the fact Clinton was a Rhodes scholar appealed to educators. "I think there is an identity there. Educators highly prize Rhodes scholars. We have a lot of admiration for Rhodes scholars."

Some educators nationally have expressed concern that the nation's colleges and universities may face stricter enforcement of regulations in such areas as civil rights and the environment in a Clinton administration.

But Stroup said she doubted a change at the White House would lead to any great changes in the regulatory picture for higher education.

The university president said she doesn't see such enforcement as a concern to Southeast because the Cape Girardeau school is already working to improve the campus environment for both minorities and the handicapped.

Stroup conceded that ultimately it's difficult to predict what changes may occur in higher education as a result of new state and federal administrations. "All of this stuff is real speculation," she said.