University Chancellor Dan Klaich told the Assembly on Tuesday that the cuts proposed by the governor will damage either access to a college education or quality of that education.
Nevada's public school superintendents earlier told lawmakers they would find ways to keep their programs and services whole, as long as they were provided more flexibility in how to use state and other funds.
"I guess I'm here to tell you I'm not going to make that promise," said Klaich in the Assembly.
If the proposed cuts to the university system are enacted, Klaich said the choice will be between full access to Nevadans or preservation of the quality of the system's institutions.
"If that becomes the choice as a result of budget cuts, I'll choose quality," he said. "I will choose the fact we will have to serve fewer students. We will serve them well."
But he said that will mean they can't maintain full access for all.
Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, told Klaich everyone in the state will have to change how they do things because of the revenue crisis.
"The good days are over," she said.
"Everybody's going to have to change the way we've always done things," she said. "How, if we invest in you, will you be able to be accountable back to us?"
Klaich agreed the system must commit to a thorough examination of how they operate and what they offer.
"I heard someone earlier say there can't be any sacred cows in this," he said. "We need to re-evaluate everything we do. This is an opportunity to do that."
But he cautioned that serious changes "will be tough, very tough."
"Once we start making those cuts, we're going to take years to bring those back," he warned.
Minority Leader Heidi Gansert, R-Reno, asked if the system has looked at raising tuition: "You have the opportunity to make students part of the solution."
Klaich said students have backed tuition increases in recent years but that the per credit fee has risen nearly
40 percent in the past five years. Eventually, he said, they can't afford a college education.
