http://www.ihl.state.ms.us/newsstory.asp?ID=353

IHL COMPILES INITIAL ESTIMATES OF DAMAGE TO COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES



9/13/2005 (JACKSON ) -
 Initial estimates suggest that the damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina on the state’s higher education community will reach at least $673 million, according to the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL).  Richard Crofts, commissioner of higher education, said that early assessments indicate that the state’s public universities incurred approximately $598 million in damages and additional expenses as a result of the storm, in addition to over $52 million at the community colleges and nearly $23 million at private colleges.
 
While more institutions were damaged in Louisiana than in Mississippi, four institutions here experienced major damage, and almost every institution in the state is struggling to absorb costs resulting from the storm.  Especially hard-hit among Mississippi institutions of higher learning are those in or near the Gulf Coast area.  The University of Southern Mississippi may have to build an entire new campus on the coast, and Gulf Coast Community College, Pearl River Community College, and William Carey College in south Mississippi have also experienced heavy damage and losses. 
 
Though Mississippi is dealing with somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 displaced students, the state must face the additional challenges presented to its current students, according to Crofts.  “Some of these students and their families were adequately supported through financial aid and personal income before the storm,” he said.  “But they have seen everything they own destroyed, including family livelihoods and homes, and they cannot see the way clear to continue in college without significant assistance.  How can a family even consider higher education when the home and the job are both gone?”   In addition to the obvious physical and financial losses experienced by students, Mississippi colleges and universities also must minister to the emotional needs of students for whom, as Crofts described it, “higher education may now seem a distant dream.”
 
The damage estimates were gathered by IHL at the request of Governor Haley Barbour, who will present the figures to the FEMA/MEMA recovery effort.  In addition, the assessments will be presented to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and the White House in partnership with the State of Louisiana and the American Association of Schools, Colleges, and Universities (AASCU).  The groups will request special appropriations to help institutions and students cope with the costs of the storm. 
 
Commissioner Crofts said of the damage assessment, “The higher education community, particularly in Mississippi and Louisiana, has been hit hard by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.  We felt the need to communicate the level of the damage, in both public and private institutions, to the Governor, the U.S. Senate, and the White House.”  Crofts said, “We are working closely with students from both Louisiana and Mississippi whose family homes and livelihoods have been destroyed or compromised.”  
 
Nearly $500 million of the hurricane’s total cost to Mississippi higher education represents repair or rebuilding of campus facilities damaged or destroyed by the storm.  Financial aid costs of about $94 million include the costs of displaced students’ attending Mississippi’s institutions and the costs which current students will be unable to afford as a result of lost family income or employment.  Other expenses, such as housing of students who could not remain on campus, housing of evacuees, and assistance in relief efforts, are estimated at about $36 million.  In addition to the direct costs, institutions of higher learning in Mississippi stand to lose approximately  $49 million in income as a result of the storm.
 
“While these estimates are preliminary,” said Richard Crofts, “they do show how difficult it may be for some of our institutions of higher learning to remain viable after Katrina.  We’re exploring every possible avenue to stabilize higher education in Mississippi in this present crisis.  But we also have to look to the future, as higher education will be a key factor in effectively rebuilding our communities.”