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$50 million on the line for Marshall University
A bill that would provide up to $55 million to Marshall University for capital improvements on the Marshall University campus could provide a biotechnology development center and applied engineering building which would be located just beyond the Robert C. Byrd Biotechnology Science Center on 3rd Avenue in Huntington.
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CHARLESTON -- The state Senate's Education Committee revived legislation Thursday that could provide up to $55 million to Marshall University for various projects, including a biotechnology development center and applied engineering building along 3rd Avenue.
The Senate had passed two bills (SB 638 and SB 63) last week that devised a plan to provide up to $15 million in bonding capacity for higher education to use for improvement projects. Both pieces of legislation, however, are stalled in the House Finance Committee.
With the Legislature's regular session ending at midnight Saturday, the Senate Education Committee voted to inject the content of both stalled Senate bills into a House bill (HB 2961). That bill now is scheduled to go before the full Senate on second reading today.
One of the primary goals of the bonding legislation is to create a funding mechanism at the state level to pay for capital improvement projects on college campuses, said Sen. Bob Plymale, D-Wayne. West Virginia is one of a few states in the country that still relies on student fees for such projects, he said.
That's partly why the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education gave West Virginia a grade of "F" for college affordability in 2006. The center estimated low- and middle-income students must pay 45 percent of their family income to attend a public four-year college or university.
At Marshall University, $430 out of a resident student's $4,360 annual tuition goes toward paying off bonds for capital improvement projects on campus, the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission reported last year. Non-resident students pay $1,460 in capital improvement fees out of their $11,414 annual tuition.
That does not include an additional fee of $150 that was charged to all Marshall students this year for a new recreation center.
The $15 million in bonding capacity could generate anywhere from $215 million to $230 million for four-year institutions across the state, Plymale said.
The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission has compiled a list of projects that would be built with the new funding source. Marshall's list totals $63 million, though Plymale said it will probably have to be adjusted for the $50 million to $55 million that is now available in the bill.
The initial list includes:
$40 million for the biotechnology development center and applied engineering building. The building would be located next to the Robert C. Byrd Biotechnology Science Center on 3rd Avenue.
$22 million for renovations and repairs to several academic buildings on campus. Of this amount, $9 million goes to Smith Hall.
$1 million to complete the third floor of the Forensic Science Center.
The funding measure is the four-year higher education equivalent of bonding legislation that was adopted last year for capital improvement projects at community and technical colleges, Plymale said.
