Bunker Hill Community College.

FIVE YEARS AGO, I campaigned to fund the endowment match for our state colleges and universities. Since then, the program has successfully raised a total of $200 million for our public higher education institutions, with two-thirds of the contributions coming from private donors. The current conference committee budget has funded the program for UMASS and state universities but it drops community colleges. This is both disappointing and curious. A supplemental budget should restore this funding.

The state provides a matching fund, contributing one dollar for every two dollars donated by the private sector. Caps are in place to regulate the maximum state contribution: UMASS is limited to $10 million, enabling it to raise an additional $20 million, while each state university and community college has a $5 million cap.

Raising private funds has been relatively easy for UMASS, tougher for state universities, and very hard for some community colleges. This reflects the varying sizes of their development offices and alumni prospects. The match serves as a challenge for community colleges, offering a compelling story to tell alumni: their contributions will be bolstered by the state. Similarly, UMASS and state universities have come to rely on these incentive funds.

After five years, development officers have found the match program invaluable and have built up a prospect list. Without funds to match, community colleges will see this effort go to waste. The budget has never been more generous to these colleges in terms of providing MassEducate, the free community college plan. But cutting this low-cost, high-impact match program is unnecessary and counterproductive.

While endowment funds, with their 4 percent annual payout, are not as immediately impactful as current funds for our struggling community colleges, they hold significant long-term potential. The state has wisely redirected funds to address declining enrollment with programs like Mass Educate and Mass Reconnect. However, eliminating the endowment match would deprive community colleges of the opportunity to gather millions of dollars from private donations.

Several bills and proposals aim to enhance the endowment match’s impact. Representative Oliveira filed a bill to equalize the match cap across UMASS, state universities, and community colleges, each with a $10 million cap. Other suggestions include raising the distribution rate or allowing colleges to use raised funds for current needs while allocating the state contribution to endowments. Beacon Hill often draws on other states’ experiences, as seen with the free college legislation. Many states already offer similar endowment match incentives.

Including the endowment match for UMASS and state universities shows Beacon Hill recognizes its value. This opportunity should also be extended to community colleges. Let’s be fair to all our colleges.

Robert Hildreth is a philanthropist and education reformer. He is the founder of Inversant, La Vida Scholars, and other nonprofit organizations with complementary missions of expanding access to high-quality education opportunities to low-income families and restoring the promise of higher education.

Robert Hildreth is founder and president of Hildreth Institute, a non-profit organization based in Boston that aims to increase awareness among students, families, and higher education institutions about...