House bill threatens MSU funding after tuition increase dispute

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Keeping promises to lash back at MSU’s tuition policies, a small group of House Republicans are commencing with plans to strip the university of millions in additional state funds.

The legislators introduced a bill last week that would strip MSU of more than $18 million, asserting the university intentionally tampered with the academic calendar in a smoke-and-mirrors attempt to raise tuition nearly 3 percent higher than the 7.1 percent ceiling required to retain the entire amount of funding.

In June, the Board of Trustees raised tuition 6.9 percent for this fall, but a July report from the House Fiscal Agency found tuition actually will increase 9.4 percent.

The dispute centers around the definition of an academic year. MSU officials said they based the tuition increase on fall to summer term rates that, on average, would make tuition cheaper because summer course credits typically cost less than those for fall and spring. The House Fiscal Agency usually calculates an academic year based on fall-to-fall rates. Some legislators argue MSU’s interpretation of the academic year could make the tuition increase look artificially lower than what it really is.

“Regardless of the fancy games you want to play with the academic year, students who are coming back in the fall will be paying 9.4 percent more,” said Rep. Bob Genetski, R-Saugatuck, the chairman of the House Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee.

It has been a political battle, at times growing heated, between the university and the state of Michigan, dating back to this summer.

MSU Vice President for Governmental Affairs Mark Burnham and other university officials previously were called to testify in front of the House Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee in July, under the similar threat of reduced state funding.

In a volatile session and under fire from the subcommittee, university officials repeatedly defended MSU’s tuition policies, saying they were forthcoming in their actions.

State Rep. Kevin Cotter, R-Mount Pleasant, said at the hearing he personally was “offended” by MSU’s actions, calling it a “cute play” on the school’s definition of an academic year.

Burnham and others attributed the difference between state and university calculations to a 2.4 percent rebate handed back to students last year by MSU.

Genteski and other officials accused the Board of Trustees of displaying a “lack of awareness” regarding the state’s tuition restraint laws.

Republican legislators are challenging the ruling of State Budget Director John Nixon, who found MSU to be within the law’s parameters, on the grounds there historically has not been a set definition of the academic year.

MSU officials said the bill is just another attempt to slash higher education funding to balance the budget.

University spokesman Kent Cassella said in a statement the proposed bill continues a decade-long trend of disinvestment in higher education by the State of Michigan.

“This type of bill further exacerbates disinvestment by the state,” he said.

Members of the Board of Trustees were taken aback by news of the bill.

MSU Trustee Mitch Lyons, a Republican, spoke out against the proposed law.

“I don’t agree with the legislation,” he said. “From what I understand, MSU was completely transparent.”

MSU Trustee George Perles said officials are failing to properly represent the state.

“They’re not living up to their obligations with the state budget,” he said. “They’re not living up to what they promised.”

Following the unveiling of the Senate Republican agenda at the Capitol on Wednesday, Sen. Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, said MSU raised tuition more than the government had intended them to.

“We’re going to have some discussions with them about the next year’s budget.”

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