Forty-five UNA students participated in this year’s Higher Education Day event, demanding greater funding for Alabama’s public universities on Feb. 27.

Alabama legislators were working on the education portion of the state budget while more than 2,000 college students rallied outside the statehouse in Montgomery during the event.

Gordon Stone, executive director of the Higher Education Partnership, led chants for one-third of the education budget to be given to Alabama’s public colleges and universities.

 “We aren’t even asking for half,” Stone said. “K-12 can have two-thirds. We just want our one-third, and we haven’t been getting it. Alabama’s public universities generate an annual profit of $12 billion, making them the number one economic industry in the state.”

Alabama is ranked No. 11 in education funding out of 16 Southern states. The funding of colleges and universities in Alabama is not good enough because it could lower the number of people able to attend college, Stone said.

“A college graduate will make two times as much money in (his or her) lifetime as a non-graduate,” Stone said. “Without more funding, many people will not get the opportunity to go to college.”

Governor Robert Bentley echoed Stone’s declarations.

“Students, I want you to know I’m on your side,” Bentley said. “Higher education is important to our state.”

Bentley said getting greater funding for higher education has been one of his goals since he took office in 2010.

“You are our future,” Bentley said to the crowd of students. “I want what’s best for you.”

Student Government Association senator Jordan Graham enjoyed participating in the event because he wants to see more funding for UNA.

“Higher Education Day is a great cause because we’re not getting the money we’re supposed to get,” he said. “I would like to see more majors brought to campus if we get more funding.”

UNA students also got the opportunity to meet with Rep. Lynn Greer, Lauderdale County’s voice in the state Legislature, to share concerns and get answers to questions about education funding in Alabama.

“Even if we get our share (of the budget), that’s still not enough,” Greer said. “We’ve just got to get more money in the budget.”

Vice President of the University Program Council Walter Hartley does not understand why other state university’s receive more funding than UNA, he said.

“The system we use (to determine funding for each school) is very unfair. UNA gets the short end of the stick,” Greer said. “I’m hoping next year we can look at that (distribution of funds) again.”

Greer said the lack of funding for universities is a reason for high dropout rates among Alabama colleges.

“We’ve got our tuition too high,” Greer said. “The last several years our answer (to the lack of funding) has been to raise tuition. We can’t keep doing that.”

Junior Josh Walker wants to see more funding for UNA so his tuition can be lowered, he said.

“Because that would mean less money out of my pocket,” Walker said.

Higher Education Day was a cool way to make a difference in the fight for more funding, Walker said.

SGA Legislative Affairs Committee Chairperson Kyle Enloe, who coordinated UNA’s participation in the event, is pleased with the event’s turnout.  

“I was really pleased with the questions we got to ask Rep. Greer,” Enloe said. “It gave us the opportunity to advocate for the people back home.”

Higher Education Day positively impacted freshman Claire Clark, she said.  

“I see how important more funding is,” Clark said. “It’s important because we are the future.”