Rory Reid says give higher education tuition flexibility

Nevada colleges and universities should be given flexibility to charge tuition based on residency and curriculum programs and be allowed to keep tuition and fees for their own campuses, gubernatorial candidate Rory Reid said Thursday.

The suggestions were included in the Democratic gubernatorial nominee's plan for higher education - one of four position papers he has released in his bid for the governor's mansion.

In his seven-page plan titled "Bright Minds for a New Economy," the chairman of the Clark County Commission and son of U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., also advocated tailoring curriculum and partnering with businesses to meet the emerging needs of new industries.

"A first-class higher education system that supports business, research and technology transfer can be a cornerstone of our economy," Reid said in a statement. "Our universities and colleges can feed businesses the workers and technology they need to prosper."

Reid has trailed consistently in polls to Republican nominee Brian Sandoval, a former federal judge and state attorney general who handily defeated incumbent Gov. Jim Gibbons in June's GOP primary. Sandoval left a lifetime appointment to the federal bench a year ago to seek the governorship.

Reid said higher education should be an incubator for innovation and benefit from the commercialization of technology developed by faculty and researchers.

He also proposed partnerships between the system's various campuses to encourage funding based on efficiency instead of enrollment numbers, and requiring performance reviews of individual campuses as well as system administration.

Reid also proposed a state-sponsored endowment to attract private investment to help fund Nevada's Millennium Scholarship Program. The scholarship, established a decade ago at the urging of late Gov. Kenny Guinn, initially was funded with tobacco settlement money and later augmented with state support and unclaimed property funds.

State lawmakers and officials, however, have questioned the longevity of the fund given Nevada's dismal economy and looming budget crisis.