Ellington

Mississippi's community colleges could get an extra $15 million if Gov. Haley Barbour signs off on a funding bill approved by both chambers of the state Legislature. The version of Senate Bill 3042 on Barbour's desk is more generous than an earlier incarnation proposed by Sen. Doug Davis, R-Hernando, which Barbour supported, leading to speculation that the governor may veto the proposal.

Barbour spokesman Dan Turner said that the governor will deliver a statement on the bill later today but declined to give further details.

As introduced, SB 3042 allotted $131 million for general support of the state's 15 community colleges. On Feb. 17, Sen. Jack Gordon, D-Okolona, amended the bill on the Senate floor, boosting the amount to $146 million. Gordon's amendment passed 39 to 5, and the Senate then voted unanimously to approve the amended bill.

The wide margin that originally voted to pass the bill suggests that the Senate could muster enough votes to override a veto. In Barbour's budget recommendation for the upcoming fiscal year, he proposed a 3.29 percent decrease in total funding for community and junior colleges.

Community colleges in the state have seen their enrollment rise 31 percent over the past three years.

"During these economic times, folks are coming back to community colleges, and our enrollment is just booming," said Kell Smith, a spokesman for the State Board For Community and Junior Colleges.

The extra $15 million that the Legislature approved could be "very significant," Smith said.

At the same time that Mississippi's community colleges are drawing more students, their funding has dropped. In January, the Mississippi Economic Policy Center, an independent think-tank, released numbers showing that per-student funding for community colleges dropped 14 percent, from $4,074 to $3,491, over the last two school years, even as full-time enrollment rose from 58,592 to 65,069.

MEPC has also released data showing that more than a quarter of the state's community college students take out federal loans to pay for classes, with an average loan amount of $4,272.