A key plank in the public universities' plans to expand across the state requires rural communities to make major financial investments in facilities that will house thousands of new students.
Yet even when a community is ready and willing to make an investment — as the mountaintop town of Payson is — university officials appear slow to move because of financial concerns.
The dilemma in Payson could imperil other attempts by the universities to expand into rural communities, damaging plans to increase the number of college graduates in the state.
Residents of Payson, which is in the Tonto National Forest about an hour northeast of Phoenix, have pledged $90 million to build a 320-acre college campus that could serve up to 6,000 students.
The campus would sit among the pines on forest land that has been identified for sale and would be built with green materials, Mayor Kenny Evans said.
People are also reading…
"It will be purchased — the question at hand is who the future occupant will be," he said.
The town would build the classrooms and administrative facilities, allowing third parties to build and operate dining and residence halls, he said. The goal is to allow the university — be it a state or a private school — to focus on teaching students and keeping costs low for the student and the institution.
But talks with both Arizona State University and the University of Arizona have been slowed by budgetary concerns, as the universities are unwilling to invest even the roughly $5 million necessary to get the campus running, Evans said.
While officials from both schools have said the potential campus in Payson is a perfect example of the type of partnership they desire, there appears to be a gap between what academic programs town officials want and what universities are willing to offer.
In recent months, ASU has taken the lead in negotiating with Payson, as UA officials move away from building standalone campuses and focus more on working with community colleges to share facilities.
While ASU officials wouldn't discuss the negotiations with Payson, Provost Elizabeth Capaldi said the university's plan to build colleges throughout the state hinges on being able to offer a small number of high-demand degrees that can draw enough students to be financially solvent.
Those programs include degrees in business, communication and education, which would be taught by faculty focused on teaching as opposed to research.
"We have to not go broke," Capaldi said.
Payson officials hope that the college would provide degrees focusing on forestry, sustainability and natural sciences — to mesh with the mountain community's local industry.
But those programs, which often need laboratories and research-oriented faculty, are more expensive for the university to build and maintain, Capaldi said.
Evans said the town also is looking for a university to provide certain infrastructure upgrades that would benefit area residents, such as high-speed Internet access. The college also would have to offer some sort of continuing education and learning programs for residents, Evans said.
On top of discussions with ASU and UA, the town has been talking with private colleges in the region about the potential campus. Evans wouldn't say which private schools Payson was courting, only that the town wants to find the right partner.
"I think the reputation of the institution is really significant for us," he said. "We've waited a very long time for this to mature, and we have a lot to offer students here."
