WASHINGTON COUNTY — The plan by the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) to inject new money into its regional education centers was described Friday as a "funding strategy."

That was according to Geoffrey Newman, MHEC's director of finance policy, who pointed to discussions the commission has had in recent years.

MHEC describes itself on its Web site as a coordinating board responsible for setting state policies for public and private colleges and universities and for-profit career schools.

"MHEC also administers state financial aid programs that affect students on a statewide basis," the Web site says.

Within MHEC's purview are six higher education centers that offer programs from public and private colleges and universities.

MHEC was asked by the state in 2005 to come up with "recommendations for an equitable, consistent, and ongoing funding strategy for regional higher education centers," according to a 2006 MHEC Finance Policy Committee report on the topic on the commission's Web site.

The Finance Policy Committee's report recommended giving each regional higher education center a base allocation of $200,000.

On top of that, centers would get "incentive funding" based on their number of full-time-equivalent students in upper or graduate programs or in "2+2" programs connecting community college to bachelor's degrees.

Centers also could get "special funding," such as for a new facility or a critical program, and "leasing costs" based on the space for which they charge rent.

The Finance Policy Committee's report doesn't specifically suggest incorporating two higher education centers funded by USM into the new funding approach.

However, USM-Hagerstown legislatively was inserted into the mix this month when a House subcommittee stripped its $2.1 million university system funding and diverted that money to MHEC.

MHEC is to share it with the six non-USM centers and with USM-Hagerstown.

Del. John L. Bohanan Jr., D-St. Mary's, whose Appropriations subcommittee slashed USM-Hagerstown's budget, has said he was addressing a funding inequity.

He reiterated his point Wednesday, after the House approved giving USM-Hagerstown money to partially offset the cuts, for at least one year.

USM-Hagerstown, Bohanan said, spends about $9,000 per student, while one non-USM center, Anne Arundel Community College at Arundel Mills, spends $78 per student.

"And it's the same product at the end," said Bohanan, who has a non-USM center in his district.

Others say USM-Hagerstown, which opened in 2005 and is early in its development, is too different to compare to non-USM centers.

In a letter to the editor in Thursday's edition of The Herald-Mail, C. David Warner III, USM-Hagerstown's executive director, said Hagerstown's campus, one building on one downtown acre, has no large facilities to lease to outside groups, like other centers have, he wrote.

In addition, "(w)e are 70 miles from the nearest USM affiliate and, at this point in our development, it might be cost-prohibitive for participating universities to pay rent," the letter says.

In a separate letter printed Wednesday, Jonathan Gibralter, the president of Frostburg State University, which offers programs at USM-Hagerstown, wrote that none of the non-USM centers "serve any area west of Baltimore," hurting local students if Hagerstown's campus closed.

In their respective budgets, the House approved up to $1.7 million for USM-Hagerstown for fiscal year 2009 - about 40 percent of which isn't guaranteed - while the Senate kept the center's budget at the originally proposed $2.1 million.

This week, the two chambers are expected to work out differences between their versions of the state budget, including USM-Hagerstown funding.

How MHEC would distribute the money

Each of the last two years, the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) gave a combined $850,000 to six regional education centers that are not part of the University System of Maryland.

For fiscal year 2009, though, MHEC asked the state for about $3.5 million for the six centers.

The large jump in funding would be boosted by $2.1 million previously earmarked for the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown, until it was diverted by a Maryland House subcommittee to MHEC.

The money would be shared by the six non-USM regional centers, along with USM-Hagerstown.

According to a budget spreadsheet, each center's state funding for fiscal year 2009 would be:

· Anne Arundel Community College at Arundel Mills in Hanover, Md. - $388,339

· Eastern Shore Higher Education Center at Chesapeake College's Wye Mills, Md., campus - $534,192

· Higher Education & Conference Center at HEAT (Higher Education and Applied Technology) in Aberdeen, Md. - $480,363

· Laurel College Center, through Prince George's and Howard community colleges - $296,764

· Southern Maryland Higher Education Center in St. Mary's County - $1,176,253

· Waldorf Center for Higher Education in Waldorf, Md. - $654,759

The total for the six non-USM centers would be $3,530,670.

In addition, USM-Hagerstown would get $716,071.

The Universities of Shady Grove, a larger USM education center in Rockville, wouldn't be part of the revamped MHEC funding structure and would continue to get money through the university system.

In the current year, with $850,000 to share, five of the six non-USM centers received $100,000, said Geoffrey Newman, MHEC's director of finance policy. The Southern Maryland Higher Education Center received $350,000.

Who will work out budget differences

Maryland's House and Senate have named representatives on a committee to work out differences in their versions of the state budget.

Among the committee's negotiations will be next year's funding for the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown campus.

The House's version of the fiscal year 2009 budget includes $1 million through the university system, plus about $700,000 more possible through the Maryland Higher Education Commission.

The Senate approved USM-Hagerstown's entire $2.1 million budget proposal for next year.

The conference committee is expected to meet this week, but nothing definite had been scheduled as of Friday afternoon.

Sen. Donald F. Munson, R-Washington, is on the committee as an adviser.

Del. John L. Bohanan Jr. - whose Appropriations subcommittee cut USM-Hagerstown's $2.1 million budget so the money could be spread among several education centers - is on the conference committee, too.

Appropriations Committee delegates on the conference committee are:

· Bohanan, D-St. Mary's

· Tawanna P. Gaines, D-Prince George's

· Mary-Dulany James, D-Cecil/Harford

· Susan L.M. Aumann, R-Baltimore County

· Norman H. Conway, D-Wicomico/Worcester, the Appropriations Committee chairman.

Delegates on the committee as advisers are James E. Proctor Jr., D-Calvert/Prince George's, and Charles E. Barkley, D-Montgomery.

Budget and Taxation Committee senators on the conference committee are:

· Edward J. Kasemeyer, D-Howard/Baltimore County

· James E. DeGrange Sr., D-Anne Arundel

· Richard S. Madaleno Jr., D-Montgomery

· David R. Brinkley, R-Carroll/Frederick

· Ulysses Currie, D-Prince George's, the Budget and Taxation Committee chairman.

Senators on the committee as advisers are Munson, Verna L. Jones, D-Baltimore City, and James N. Robey, D-Howard.