MSU officials accepted Gov. Jennifer Granholm's tuition offer, but most of the other 14 public universities in the state have yet to decide.

In her State of the State address Tuesday night, Granholm extended the bargain, which promises lower state funding cuts and no further reductions in 2004-05 if Michigan universities promise to keep tuition at the rate of inflation.

The current rate of inflation is 2.4 percent.

Under the agreement, Granholm will reduce the originally proposed higher-education cuts from 5 percent to 2 percent.

The MSU Board of Trustees approved the resolution unanimously Tuesday at a special meeting, becoming the first university to do so.

In her speech, however, Granholm said Wayne State University president Irvin Reid suggested a similar agreement to the school's board, but most universities aren't following MSU's suit.

"We will continue to work cooperatively with the governor and the Legislature to keep our tuition as low as possible under these very difficult circumstances," University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman said in a written statement. "But it is simply too soon in our planning process, and too uncertain a state budget picture, for us to be able to make a decision about budgeting for next year."

U-M isn't the only university that has chosen to hold off on deciding whether it'll accept the governor's proposal.

"We need to know all the facts and figures before we do anything," said Cindy Paavola, spokeswoman for Northern Michigan University. "But having some idea of how the governor's dealing with education in her budget will certainly help us."

Paavola said she knows Northern's in the same dire budget situation as every Michigan university, and that the school will certainly look into Granholm's proposition.

"Northern, like every university in Michigan, is trying to keep tuition as low as possible, and at the same time not cut quality," she said. "You can always cut tuition if you're willing to cut programs."

Lake Superior State University administrators chose not to take the offer, said university spokesman Tom Pink.

"At this point, we're declining the state's proposal," he said. "There's no assurance for funding levels for this next fiscal year. With that in mind, that's why we did what we did."

Pink said Lake Superior raised tuition for the spring semester by $10 per credit hour, but "We haven't set next year's (tuition) yet."

Other universities are waiting for Granholm's executive order in February before making any decision.

"We're really taking a wait-and-see approach," said Dean Woodbeck, spokesman for Michigan Technological University. "At this point, it's too early for talks about tuition.

"We really need to wait and see how the rest of the budget plays out."

Central Michigan University, Western Michigan University, Oakland University and Eastern Michigan University representatives said it's way too early for any finalized tuition decisions. Ferris State University, Grand Valley State University and Saginaw Valley State University did not return phone calls Wednesday.

"It's a conversation every state public university has had," said Ted Montgomery, spokesman for Oakland University. "We're all kind of in the same boat."

Staff writer Emily Bingham contributed to this report.

Amy Bartner can be reached at bartnera@msu.edu.