David Byelich, director of MSU’s Office of Planning and Budgets, gave a presentation at MSU’s undergraduate student government ASMSU’s Finance Committee meeting Thursday evening.
Byelich spoke of the issue that the state is appropriating 6 percent of funding toward higher education. In the past decade the funding has decreased by 15 percent, causing a strain on student tuition.
Some members of MSU Students United attending the meeting invited Byelich to a rally at 12 p.m. on April 11 at the Capitol protesting the lack of funding MSU will be receiving and the inevitability of another tuition increase.
Students United members asked many questions of Byelich concerning how to cut the budget in order to put less financial strain on students paying for tuition.
Byelich said according to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid forms, or FAFSA, that MSU students submitted, 1,200 students claimed their household income was $10,000 or less.
“If the federal leg starts messing with the Pell Awards, that could cause us some problems here,” Byelich said.
He said middle class families have a high level of stress concerning tuition.
He added that funding for financial aid is a public policy issue that concerns a lot of people.
It is a difficult issue to handle because the federal government is in a difficult place and isn’t as able to give out as much funding for financial aid and higher education, Byelich said.
It would be difficult to maintain MSU the way it is right now, Byelich said.
Hiring new less experienced professionals would help the university financially, because they would work for a smaller salary, but it would not maintain the reputation and value of MSU, Byelich said.
