Granholm to ask for halt on tuition increases
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Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm will propose a tuition freeze for state colleges and universities Tuesday during her State of the State address, with the schools that comply getting additional state funding.
Granholm will ask higher education officials to halt tuition increases and ask state legislators to approve additional state funding to colleges and universities that comply, said Liz Boyd, Granholm’s spokeswoman. The proposed tuition freeze would take effect beginning fall 2009.
The state funding increase likely would come directly from the $819 billion economic stimulus plan being considered by Congress, $6 billion of which would go to higher education.
“We are hoping and expecting that universities will realize, as we do, that in these very tough economic times, we need to protect our citizens and their pocketbooks,” Boyd said.
“If the universities honor that request, we would reward them with economic stimulus funds that would be coming from Washington.”
Granholm’s proposal will be included in her formal state budget presentation Feb. 12, Boyd said. State lawmakers will need to approve Granholm’s budget before a tuition freeze request can take form.
How much money would go to universities under the proposal is unclear because the federal stimulus plan has not been approved. The U.S. House of Representatives approved the bill last week, and the U.S. Senate is expected to consider it this week.
In June, the MSU Board of Trustees increased tuition 6.8 percent for in-state undergraduates and 7.1 percent for out-of-state undergraduates for the 2008-09 academic year.
Four months later, the university raised tuition another 1.2 percent for the spring semester. The university cited a 1 percent increase in state appropriations as reason for the second increase. The state’s appropriations increase was 2 percent less than the university had expected.
Mike Boulus, executive director of the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan, said state universities won’t commit to a tuition freeze until the official state budget is released.
MSU Trustee Colleen McNamara agreed with Boulus and said the university can’t begin to discuss the governor’s plan until state budget numbers are solidified.
“The implications from the governor is, if we freeze tuition, that somehow we’re made whole with the stimulus money,” she said. “We have no idea what’s happening with the stimulus money.”
Boulus said he expects to “see some pain” for higher education when the state announces its budget allocations.
“I think you really have to worry, given the fact that the state has really disinvested year after year in our universities, how we could maintain quality and accessibility by simply freezing tuition and taking another cut from the state,” Boulus said.
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Solid
(02/01/09 4:36pm)Report
This is actually a very good idea. Anything to make sure students can afford an education I’m all for. Thumbs up, Governor.
Long Term Issue
(02/01/09 10:28pm)Report
This works as a temporary measure, but for the last 30 years college tuition has outpaced inflation and earnings, thus eroding the value of a college education. Only the loss of high paying manufacturing jobs has kept college as an attractive option (Okay, social scene as well).
One of the transformations that needs to be taken by the Obama administrations, states, and private universities is a major reform on college funding and access. The current state of affairs favors the very affluent in education, while the degrading middle class and working classes are struggling.
Universities sitting on enormous endowments must reconsider their fund raising. Why did MSU push it’s endowment over $1 billion in it last capital campaign, yet scholarships take a back seat to endowed chairs, buildings and private research that aims to benefit private companies?
Look at University President salaries. Universities have taken the Wall Street executive pay model to heart. While not as gross as $50 million jets and $18.6 billion bonues isn’t it disturbing that in times of major tuition hikes, Lou Anna K Simon’s annual pay increase is greater than a years tuition, even for out of state grad students? And what is the Board of Trustees’ justification? They say everyone else in the Big Ten is raising wages, and they want to be in the top half of pay. Such false measures of “greatness” have undermined the liberal and progressive land grant philosophy that MSU was founded under.
Major reform will be needed. The Governor, no great leader in her own right, should make it another condition to call together the public and private university presidents and call together a plan to radically change the financing system to allow for affordable college that factors academic qualifications, talent, potential, diversity (in very broad terms), and unique characteristics over economic standing.
Julius Holmes
(02/02/09 1:46am)Report
LONG TERM ISSUE: I couldn’t agree with you more when you say that higher education favors the affluent. I think this is a point most people miss out on!!
Nick K.
(02/02/09 8:12am)Report
We’ve been bitten by this before.. The SoM asking universities to cap the tuition increase by X% (in this case, 0%), in exchange for more money. Guess what, when MSU did it last time, the State took their money back half-way through the year to balence their own budget. If you look at the pre-speech language, it leaves a lot of holes for MSU to get their money. We can’t increase tuition, we will get the money much later in the year (there will be a gap). It’s dependant on the SoM to get their money. It’s dependant on the SoM on balencing their own budget. They won’t even tell us how much there is for us to get… Will UoM get $4B, and MSU get $100,000? They won’t say.
Yes, tuition is rasing faster then inflation. There is not much MSU can do about it. We are thin, lean, and mean. Tuition at MSU is still MUCH less than 80% of the other Big Ten schools. Yet, MSU’s cost increases are huge — Power, fuel, food, etc. are all skyrocketing. Arguably faster than inflation. We have a runaway budget from the Athletics department which everybody is afraid to touch, but that is another issue all together.
As far as Mrs. Simon’s pay — she is paid what she is worth. She has brought in more opportunities and donations than any other president of this university. The expansions of the medical school, the recent partnership with IBM, and the FRIB are all things she has worked very hard at. Not only that, she turned down a pay raise this year, and actually donated more back to MSU of her pay. Her monitory contribution back to MSU is more than any other Big Ten or major univeristy president in recent time.