Funding from the state will total $1.46 billion for the next fiscal year for state universities with a 6.7 percent decrease in state appropriations for 11 universities, including MSU.

MSU lost $21 million in state funding, which forced officials to increase fall tuition by 9.9 percent and make $31 million in university cutbacks in June. The MSU Board of Trustees also raised housing rates in May by 6 percent for students living on campus in the fall.

Appropriations for Central Michigan University, Grand Valley State University, Oakland University and Saginaw Valley State University were increased for the upcoming fiscal year.

The Michigan Merit Award Scholarship, which is supported by the state's tobacco settlement money, was kept intact for the 2004 fiscal year. In the 2002-03 academic year 5,967 MSU students received $13.9 million from the merit scholarship.

Stephanie Korneffel

Institutions release Mich. economics book
A group of faculty members from MSU, University of Michigan, Wayne State University and other institutions across the state, came together to address Michigan's economic state in a new book titled "Michigan at the Millennium."

Published by the MSU Press, the book examines an updated review of Michigan's financial crisis and proposes possible solutions since Harvey Brazer's 1982 book, "Michigan's Fiscal and Economic Structure."

"The book offers first-rate scholarly analysis that is accessible to more general audiences," said Interim President Lou Anna Simon in a written statement.

In the book's first set of chapters, the editors survey the economics and demographics of the state. The second set of chapters looks at the costs of government on the local and state level. The book wraps up with an analysis of local and state revenues.

Funding for the book came from MSU, U-M and Wayne State University, as well as the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

For more information on how to receive a copy of "Michigan at the Millennium," call the MSU Press (517) 355-9543 or visit msupress.msu.edu.

Stephanie Korneffel