By Artis Gordon

Virginia’s state-supported colleges and universities should spend more money on research, keep tuition low and be held more accountable.

That is what a gubernatorial commission recommended after 18 months of scrutinizing higher education in Virginia.

At a February press conference to receive the report, Gov. Jim Gilmore praised his Blue Ribbon Commission on Higher Education, which is made up of legislators, college presidents, professors, community leaders and members of the State Council of Higher Education.

"The commission has focused on academic rigor and setting priorities for each college to spend its money wisely, for the greatest educational benefit," Gilmore said.

The commission, chaired by Edward Flippen, a partner in the Richmond law firm of Mays and Valentine, started its study in August 1998. Its report included 73 recommendations intended to achieve Gilmore’s three goals: greater affordability, quality and accountability in Virginia's higher education system.

The panel’s main recommendation would establish six-year Institutional Performance Agreements for each college: If the institution doesn’t meet certain performance standards addressing academic quality and operational efficiency, it wouldn’t get state funding.

"There is no greater threat to the public’s support than an utter lack of accountability," Gilmore said.

Accountability will benefit, not hurt, universities, he said. Under the Institutional Performance Agreements, the governor said, colleges will be guaranteed funding – as long as they doing their job.

"For the first time ever, Virginia’s public colleges and universities will be able to plan their affairs strategically and rely upon predictable funding," Gilmore said.

As a result of the commission’s recommending money for research, Gilmore budgeted $20 million to create the Technology Competitiveness Fund for colleges and universities. The fund’s priority is to "match federal and private research grants in state-of-the-art technology and scientific fields," he said.

"The fund will enhance the national reputation of our key academic departments and attract some of the world’s leading faculty to teach at our colleges and universities," Gilmore said.

The commission found that Virginia is the eighth most expensive state to get a college education. Tuition and fees have doubled in the state in the past 15 years.

In response, Gilmore said he has cut tuition by 20 percent – and he called for a four-year freeze on tuition.

"A high quality education is of little value to people if access is denied because the degree is too expensive," he said.

The governor predicted that the advisory panel’s report will have widespread ramifications for Virginians.

"Not since Thomas Jefferson chaired the Rockfish Gap Commission in 1818 has a commission gone into such detail and produced such creative and far-reaching thought on an issue as complex as the higher education enterprise," he said.

"I believe that the educational opportunities of the next generation of Virginia’s students, parents and taxpayers will be greater because of what this Blue Ribbon Commission has accomplished."