Mississippi State and the University of Mississippi rank #1 and #2 respectively when it comes to educational earmarks from the federal government. Yet, both schools are considered Tier 3 schools in the U.S. News & World Report rankings (not the only ranking system but ultimately one of the most utilized). There is more to this story, however.

Of the $2.3 billion in federal earmarks appropriated to colleges and universities during the last fiscal year, MSU received $43 million while the University of Mississippi received $37 million. Its important, when comparing these types of numbers, to remember that alumni as well as endowments are key to figuring which schools are topping the money charts. Clearly, the Ivy League with its multi-billion dollar endowments makes competing as a state-level educational institution somewhat difficult. Indeed, over 76 colleges and universities boast endowments of over $1 billion or more.

Also, there is very little state-level support as Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the country.

Mississippi's status as one of the poorest states in the country makes funding from earmarks crucial to keeping MSU a competitive research institution, he said.

"It is important for poorer states to have the ability to go to Washington and receive funds for things, [where as] in wealthier states, it is all ready available," Schulz said.

And just like donor money, earmark money has specific deliverables. At least, they say it does, but Schulz never really referred to who is holding the school accountable.

Each earmark the school receives is closely guided and monitored to prevent any wasteful spending, he said.

"All of our projects have very specific deliverables," Schulz said. "They're not a blank check - that's sort of a misconception out there."

What would happen if this earmark process was more transparent? What if Schulz made all earmark requests public for both faculty and students to see? The school might be surprised to see a lot of the students actually care about how this money is being spent, and whether they have a say in it. And who knows, if the students had a say, maybe they'd feel empowered to do more to help the school in its struggling areas.

The overarching question is, should the Federal Government support these much less-endowed state schools and institutions so that they can at least compete with the 76 schools sitting on over $1 billion? I would think as long as the money is being tracked and the specific deliverables are being met, why not? Because of the earmark funding, MSU's Sustainable Energy Research Center has become a "competitive force in renewable energy research."

SERC Director William Batchelor said the earmarks have been rapidly used to develop new technologies, creating new renewable energy avenues in Mississippi.

"From an energy perspective, if you're trying to create a new industry, it takes large amounts of money to do so," he said. "By receiving these earmarks, we can utilize our resources that will drive this creation, especially in rural parts of our state that are looking for it," he said.

Batchelor said the earmark has helped the SERC develop three new sources of renewable energy from woody biomasses and human waste.

Seems like a pretty good investment to me.