“It’s a very tough budget,” Granholm said. “The recommendations we’ve made are necessary to … make sure when this recession ends, that we emerge stronger.”

Granholm tentatively scheduled $500 million in federal stimulus funding for the state’s budget, but did not allocate the money to specific departments. Congress is expected to vote on the federal stimulus bill today.

Granholm has said she will reward the universities with money from the stimulus package if they agree to a tuition freeze for the 2009-10 school year. She said this money would make up for the 3 percent cut.

A tuition freeze is meant to ease the financial strain on college students and their families during this economic downturn.

The Michigan Legislature will review and make changes to Granholm’s budget proposal in coming months. The Legislature must approve the budget before Oct. 1.

MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said the university is assessing the implications of Granholm’s budget recommendation. Without specific figures about the federal stimulus funding funneled through the state and a legislative review of Granholm’s proposal, Simon said it is too early to speculate about tuition for next year.

“I think that the budget will include trying to keep tuition as low as possible,” Simon said. “Whether (the tuition change) is zero or not, I can’t tell you. We’re trying to keep tuition low, even though that will mean budget reductions across the campus.”

Bill Ballenger, editor and publisher of Inside Michigan Politics, said universities can’t count on federal stimulus funds because it is uncertain what form the money will come in, whether it would be earmarked for specific projects, or sent to individual taxpayers.

“Everything she’s talking about is speculation,” Ballenger said of Granholm.

But if the money is able to be used at the state’s discretion, Granholm has said that she is looking to benefit only universities that have agreed to the tuition freeze.

However, she is pretty much powerless to act on her statements without the consent of the Legislature, Ballenger said.

“She can’t wave a magic wand and say, ‘You are going to be denied this,’ or ‘You’ll get this if you do directly what I tell you,’” he said. “All she can do is make recommendations.”

Statewide cuts

MSU’s proposed funding cut is part of a $100 million, across-the-board cut to higher education funding in Michigan. The $1.42 billion for higher education in Michigan would be 3 percent less than was appropriated in last year’s budget.

State Rep. Joan Bauer, D-Lansing, expressed concerns about cutting the funding for higher education.

“I have concerns that we’re cutting the very area (that) … is going to be our future to get out of this economic downturn,” she said.

In recent years, the state Legislature has appropriated less money to MSU than Granholm proposed after negotiations between the two branches of state government, ranging from $2 million to $9 million.

State support is about one-third of the university’s revenue, MSU economics professor Ron Fisher said. Reducing state funding by 3 percent roughly results in a 1 percent reduction in MSU’s overall budget, he said.

“It’s something we wish would not happen, but it seems to be not as bad as one might have expected, given how serious the recession is,” he said.

While the reduction accounts for a small part of MSU’s total funding, Simon said contingency plans are in place given Thursday’s announcement. The university must approve its budget in the summer, months before the state’s budget must be approved.

“Hopefully (the Legislature) will take up her budget relatively soon,” Simon said.

Nationwide freeze

As Granholm prepares for a tuition freeze in Michigan, several other states are either following suit or are in the midst of similar proposals.

Maryland is in its third year of a tuition freeze and the state’s governor, Martin O’Malley, has committed to a fourth year of no tuition increases.

To maintain college and university standards at Maryland schools while stopping tuition rates, the state has increased higher education funding by 33 percent in the past three years. Over the same time period, Michigan colleges and universities have received three percent higher state appropriations.

“It’s been a big win-win for our state,” said Christopher Falkenhagen, director of communications for the Maryland Higher Education Commission, which supervises the state’s colleges and universities.

In Ohio, which is in its second year of no tuition increases, the freeze has been successful after it was ushered in by a new governor’s administration in 2006.

While Ohio’s higher education funding hasn’t increased at the same rate as Maryland, which started with one of the nation’s least affordable higher education systems, a 13 percent increase over two years has curbed any need for tuition raises.

Enrollment at Ohio’s universities also have reached record highs this year as tuition continues to hold steady.

“I definitely think it’s having an impact (on enrollment) and it has gotten a lot of attention in this state,” said Michael Chaney, spokesman for the Ohio Board of Regents. “I think people are starting to understand that they can get an affordable education in this state.”

With a third year of no tuition raises in the works and a proposed $624 million in federal stimulus funding for higher education, Ohio colleges are being asked to take advantage of opportunities provided by the state, Chaney said.

Given the success of Maryland and Ohio plans as well as the prospect of large federal dollars for state budgets, variations of the tuition freeze have popped up across the nation.

While students and administrators have lauded the tuition freeze, concerns about a drop in academic quality have been brought up in Maryland.

Josh Michael, the lone student representative on the 17-member University System of Maryland Board of Regents, which oversees higher education operations in the state, said he supports the tuition freeze but offers caution to states considering the plan.

“It’s a great thing for affordability, but be careful to keep a close eye on the quality measurements of education and the back door fees in addition to tuition,” said Michael, a junior at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Michael said indicators of lower educational quality include larger class sizes and more adjunct professors. He added that fees at UMBC, which has received 30 percent more state funding since the freeze, have been kept to a minimum and do not supplement any desire by the university to charge students more in lieu of a tuition increase.

James Palmer, editor of the Grapevine project, which tracks state appropriations for higher education, said it is unknown whether the federal stimulus funds could result in more states seeking a tuition freeze.

“This is such a new development that we’re on uncharted territory here,” Palmer said of the stimulus’ effect on funding.

“There’s the potential for this to be very significant, but I just don’t know yet.”

Staff writer Justin Harris contributed to this report.