Presidents of Michigan's 15 public universities will begin their quest to fight proposed state budget cuts they say will result in higher tuition today in Lansing.
"Tuition increases are a response to state funding decisions and I will show that," said Michael Boulus, executive director of the Presidents Council. Boulus will testify before a House subcommittee with the hope of reducing last week's proposed cut to higher education funding.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm proposed a 6.5-percent cut to higher education funding, which would reduce MSU's intake by about $30 million. MSU President M. Peter McPherson said the cuts would cause university officials to raise tuition and cut programs in the months ahead.
Over the next four weeks, university presidents will band together to tell the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education how their respective universities will be affected by the proposed cut, in addition to a 3.5-percent cut made to the 2003 fiscal year's budget. McPherson is scheduled to testify March 19.
The latest cut is part of a troubling trend in higher education funding, Boulus said. State appropriations accounted for 75 percent of Michigan's public universities' budget 25 years ago. Now, state grants make up 46 percent.
"We're concerned they're taking the 'public' out of public university," Boulus said. "We're becoming more of a private good; the universities are supported by tuition."
MSU's undergraduate student government plans to rally students in the weeks ahead, said Louis Brown, ASMSU Student Assembly vice-chairperson for external affairs.
Working with student governments elsewhere, ASMSU is planning a student march to the state Capitol on April 2, Brown said. "Marching will directly affect the dollars in your pocket next year," he said.
ASMSU also is spreading information to students and meeting with lawmakers to show concern.
Although the recommended cuts are deep, MSU Vice President for Governmental Affairs Steve Webster said the subcommittee can recommend changing the cut.
"They can accept it completely or begin with a blank piece of paper and write a budget of their own," he said, adding Granholm could veto any changes.
If lawmakers reduce the proposed cut to higher education, they must make other adjustments, said Rep. Chris Kolb, D-Ann Arbor, who serves on the subcommittee.
Kolb, whose district includes the University of Michigan, said he's hopeful the Legislature will be able to find more money.
"I anticipate there will be changes - how big or great, I don't know," he said. "This is just the first step. "Stay tuned, there's still a lot of work to be done."
