Last month’s MSU budget proposal of a 6.8 percent tuition increase was based on an expected 3 percent increase in higher education appropriations, the number originally suggested for the state budget.

“There are many competing demands and needs in this state, and we appreciate the very deep, very real anguish that precedes and follows budget decisions,” said university spokesman Terry Denbow in an e-mail statement. “Our focus, as a university and as a state, must be on the future — on how investments today can make for brighter tomorrows,” he said.

Tuition for the fall will remain at the 6.8 percent increase proposed by the MSU Board of Trustees in June, but spring tuition might see another increase.

“At this late date, we cannot add an additional tuition burden for the fall on our students and families; we will ‘cash manage’ through cuts, reallocations, and other means,” Denbow said. “The board-approved budget considered the possibilities of a final appropriation more than or less than the 3 percent hike upon which the budget was based. Spring tuition decisions will be made in the context of the board’s guidance.”