Performance funding would allocate money based on several criteria, including tuition restraint, research funding, stem cell research reporting and dual enrollment policies.

Now that the education budget — which includes school aid, community college funding and higher education funding — has been passed, Snyder will sign it and the general budget in the coming days.

The budget’s passage was not without its debate, however, as Republicans and Democrats faced off on the Senate floor arguing about the effects of cuts to the budget from the previous year.

Another point of controversy continues for MSU, as the budget also calls for a decrease in funding to any university that requires health care coverage for all its students.

MSU soon will require all students to have some form of health care, which legislators have said only adds to student fees.

For more on this issue, check Thursday’s edition of The State News.