News Highlights

State universities battling U of M for doctoral degrees

2006-04-09

By Mark Fischenich, Free Press Staff Writer [published in The Free Press, Mankato, MN]

ST. PAUL — In a mostly polite turf battle, state universities and the University of Minnesota differed Monday over whether the U should continue to have the exclusive right to offer doctorate degrees at the state's public universities.

Minnesota State University President Richard Davenport said MSU and St. Cloud State University are ready and able to offer lower-cost doctoral degrees for people such as nurses and school superintendents. The only thing stopping them is state law, which prohibits all state colleges other than the U from offering degrees higher than the master's level.

Davenport questioned whether that makes sense when Minnesota desperately needs more professionals in certain areas. State officials have been warned, for instance, that a severe shortage of nurses is looming, but to train more nurses requires more college professors to teach them.

"Nursing is a beautiful example," Davenport told the House Higher Education Finance Committee. "The only way we can address the shortage is to have more nursing instructors with the (doctoral) degree."

Under current law, the U and private colleges are the only places potential doctoral students can turn to, and Davenport believes that's not enough.

In 43 states, doctoral degrees aren't limited to the one premier public university in the state.

"I would argue Minnesota has been missing the boat the last few years," he said.

Davenport told the committee, which did not make a decision on the legislation Monday, that he believes MSU and St. Cloud State can offer "applied doctorate" degrees that cost half as much or less compared to what the U and private colleges charge for doctor of philosophy, or PhD, degrees.

The degrees would have less of a research component than a PhD and would be aimed at preparing a student to practice in a specific profession.

Martin Sampson, a professor representing both the U administration and the faculty there, said there's a reason the state universities could beat the U on price. Having a doctoral student do a major research project requires a great deal of one-on-one time with his or her advising professor. That costs money, Sampson said, but it also teaches the student important lessons about the scientific process.

Sampson said it's unclear what the requirements for the applied doctorates would be and suggested that the term is a matter of controversy in academia, calling it "a buzzword for an on-going debate in the halls of higher education."

Sampson suggested the Legislature should move slowly before changing the law, making sure it was comfortable with the implications of the change. He also said the U is opposed to "blurring the missions" of Minnesota's separate higher education systems.

But Democratic Rep. Joe Opatz, an administrator at St. Cloud State and the sponsor of the legislation to end the U's exclusivity, said it would be good for the state and good for the citizens who want a higher degree.

"The state universities are ideally suited, since they're spread around the state, to provide these doctorates," Opatz said.

And the U isn't taking care of the demand, he said, before using some of the most direct language heard during a carefully worded discussion. "The U of M is uninterested or unwilling to meet the needs," he said.

The committee, which appeared to be favorable to Opatz's legislation, won't make a formal decision until later in the session when it compiles an overall state funding bill for colleges and universities.

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