House vs. Senate Higher Ed Earmarks

Are the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives heading for a fight over higher ed earmarks in their 2010 appropriations bills? The earmark figures in both bills indicate yes. But don't be fooled. The lack of overlap between funding priorities means the level of postsecondary pork is only likely to grow.

All told, the Senate bill (PDF) provided $85.6 million for the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) -- the program that contains earmarks for higher education and funds innovative reform projects when money is available. The Senate's figure is about $48.3 million less than what the House provided in its bill.

The funding gap, however, is a bit of an illusion because the two bills only have a few spending priorities in common. The House, for example, provided $52.8 million for the FIPSE comprehensive program -- which gives out competitive innovation grants -- a college textbook rental initiative, and support for veteran student success centers. The Senate did not fund any of these, but instead directed $3.5 million toward the Erma Byrd Scholarship Program, a realtime writing training initiative, and an off-campus community service program.

Earmarks tell a similar story. The Senate provided 110 earmarks under FIPSE, 63 fewer than the House. Of these, however, only 17 appear in both bills. Even when both chambers included an earmark, it was almost always for substantially different amounts of money. The Senate, for example, provided $800,000 for St. Norbert College, double the amount provided in the House. Ironically, the largest earmark difference was the money given to the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the Senate. It received $12.6 million from the House but just $1 million from the Lion of the Senate's counterparts.

The biggest earmark winner in the Senate bill appears to be Northern Kentucky University, which got $2.4 million for "purchase of equipment." Equipment must be particularly expensive in the Bluegrass State because the Western Kentucky University Research Foundation received $2 million for the same purpose.

The lack of earmark similarity is bad news for taxpayers. When the conference committee meets to reconcile the two bills, don't be surprised to see the final FIPSE increase because no one is willing to sacrifice their pet project.

But limited earmark overlap also means there are a whole new set of project lowlights to mention:

• Center for Empowered Living and Learning, Denver, Colo., $300,000 for "an education program on terrorism."
• Dickinson State University, Dickinson, N.D., $600,000 for its Theodore Roosevelt Center, which "is designed to raise the profile of Theodore Roosevelt in North Dakota, to deepen our understanding of one of the most remarkable statesmen and intellectuals in American history, and to convene Roosevelt-related events of local, state, and national significance."
• Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Kalamazoo, Mich., $200,000 for equipment to help train wind turbine technicians.
• Keene State College, Keene, N.H., $100,000 for its Monadnock Biodiesel Collaborative, which hopes to create a plant to convert grease from around New England into biofuel.
• Philadelphia University, Philadelphia, Penn., $100,000 for "equipment relating to science."
• University of Virginia Center for Politics, Charlottesville, Va.,$100,000 for interactive civic lessons for high school students.

While making fun of projects can be entertaining, the opaque and wasteful nature of FIPSE is not. This is a program that was supposed to fund exciting reform, not grease the coffers of schools with Congressional influence.

At least Keene State can turn its pork byproducts into fuel.