Although the sequester previously did not affect Federal Pell Grants, which are given to students with the highest need for financial aid, no guarantees are made that Pell Grants will not be affected in the future, said Dave Byelich, assistant vice president and director of Planning and Budgets.

With the possible subtraction of Pell Grant money from the equation, MSU’s ability to attract economically diverse students could be in jeopardy.

“If you were to look at the family income distribution of Michigan State, what you see here is that we have been able to accommodate increasing numbers of students at the lower end of the income spectrum,” Byelich said. “This is an item that has been by design; it’s an item we continue to monitor and it continues to be a concern.”

In addition to the sequester’s effects on the budget, state appropriations for MSU are on the lower end of the spectrum compared to other Big Ten universities. According to Byelich’s presentation, MSU receives $6,449 per student, and ranks eighth. University of Minnesota ranks first and is appropriating $12,578 per student.

Despite disparities in funding at the state and federal level, MSU has managed to increase the amount of financial aid by 50 percent in the past five years, said Byelich. The increase in financial aid is twice the amount by which tuition has been increased.

Byelich also said the federal government has placed increased emphasis on tuition restraint, even though appropriations to each college vary. MSU also must keep tuition increases at or below 3.75 percent to receive additional money, also called performance funding, from the state.

For now, MSU is dealing with the issues that most profoundly affect the budget and hoping for the best.

“The sequester was something no one believed would happen,” Simon said. “What had happened is that they didn’t do a budget, then shut down the government, which is also something no one thought they would ever do. This will require compromise on the right and left in order to make this work.”