today legislators from the Senate and assembly hosted a joint meeting on higher education where they heard a variety of testimonies from different colleges and universities across the state regarding the future of the state's funding formula for higher education the hearing comes after a rally earlier this week at NJCU where students professors and elected officials urged Governor Murphy to allocate more State funding towards the struggling University they're currently undergoing a right-sizing plan and their efforts to mitigate a 22 million dollar deficit that has forced layoffs and landed them in extreme financial crisis Melissa Rose Cooper is at the State House Melissa Raven this hearing was all about trying to figure out the very best ways to provide the best education for college students but those who testified today say the biggest challenge remains Financial need declining enrollment is one of the biggest challenges and honestly another big challenge is declining across the board is declining State support every state spends Less on higher education than they did 20 years ago and that is a national Trend that New Jersey is not immune to and also the institutions are facing increased pressures just like everyone else is being beaten about by inflation the cost of doing business is just a lot more expensive for universities than it was even five years ago let alone 10 or 20 years ago so the dollar Investments that are coming from the state tuition dollars and other dollars just don't go as far as it used to the hearing comes just days after students and faculty at New Jersey City University called on more state funding when you look at the statistics that are operating budget at New Jersey City University has gone from 31.2 million dollars in fiscal year 2000 to a proposed 27.9 million in fiscal year 2024 which would represent about a 10.5 percent decrease in real dollars not adjusted for inflation the lack of growth and state support for over two decades puts increasing pressure on the institution financial problems at Bloomfield College almost caused the school to shut down Montclair State University stepped in and agreed to merge with them allowing Bloomfield to stay open but the school had to cut dozens of employees I promise you we're not the only ones I didn't bury my head in the sand and it doesn't take rocket science to know that there are many other institutions out there that are struggling I get calls almost every day saying Marquita how did you do it when did you do it I only had this much left of my payroll and sometimes I have to say it's just too late people have waited too late to ask for help we need the help again our mission is too important to fail and we need your support in getting that done by continuing to help institutions like Montclair State that have agreed to take this on with a brand new president and the discussion isn't over the legislature is planning to have another meeting in the near future to discuss what else can be done to make sure students are put first in Trenton I'm Melissa Rose Cooper from NJ Spotlight News