LANSING – Governor Rick Snyder proposed a 6.1 percent, or $76.9 million, increase for the state’s 15 public universities on Wednesday, boasting it is the highest increase since 2001. But some Democrats and universities are saying it still doesn’t go far enough to offset the cuts from three years ago.

New for the 2014-15 fiscal year budget is the recognition that universities did receive cuts at the beginning of Mr. Snyder’s term. One-half of the new funds – $38.45 million – will be distributed across the board based on the university’s 2011 funding, rather than through performance metrics.

The remaining new funds will be distributed as performance funding based on weighted undergraduate completions in critical skills areas, research expenditures, 6-year graduation rates, total completions, administrative costs as a percentage of core expenditures and a new metric: the number of students receiving Pell Grants.

Universities also will be required to limit tuition increases to 3.2 percent to receive performance funding.

With the combined performance funding and operations funding, Grand Valley State University would see the largest increase at 9.5 percent, according to Mr. Snyder’s proposed budget. Central Michigan University would see the second highest increase percentage-wise at 7.8 percent.

Michigan State University would see a 6.1 percent increase and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor would see a 5.9 percent increase.

Rep. Al Pscholka (R-Stevensville), chair of the House Appropriations Higher Education Subcommittee, said the recommendation is a good start, and he said there would be discussion about a lower tuition restraint level than 3.2 percent.

“We’ve been working with the administration on how we would make a strategic reinvestment to higher education after years of declining support, so I was generally pleased with his proposal today,” Pscholka said. “I think it keeps in place the performance standards. I think we need to be really aggressive on tuition restraint. My big thing has always been affordability and access. So we need to keep our eyes on that.”

Rep. Sam Singh (D-East Lansing), minority vice chair of the Higher Education Subcommittee, said he is pleased with the increase, but said the higher education budget isn’t even back to “square one” when it comes to the cuts made by Snyder three years ago.

“Especially when you compare it to the last two budgets, the increases to higher education are better,” Singh said. “But you’ve got to go to the governor’s first budget where he cut them by 15 percent. No other state in the union was disinvesting in higher education as much as this governor. … Of course I am not going to complain (about) the new dollars coming in to higher education, but I still cannot forget and those institutions and those students still cannot forget the huge cut they took from this governor three years ago.”

However, Pscholka said, “I think it comes a long ways from the cuts of the past.”

“I think the Business Leaders of Michigan called for $100 million, I think Representative Singh himself called for $100 million and for the proposal to come in at $80 million, I don’t think you should be too displeased with that,” he said. “I think that shows recognition on the administration’s part that that cut back in (2011-12) was $150 million, so this gets us back to the halfway point.”

On Wednesday evening, Michigan State University emailed a letter to alumni from university President Lou Anna K. Simon. The letter asks “alumni and friends” to take action, and provides a website where they can advocate for an increase in higher education funding.

Simon wrote the 6.1 percent increase would not bring the university back to funding levels it received prior to Snyder taking office.

“For generations of Michiganders, the state provided public universities with sufficient resources to enable students of any economic background to attend,” she wrote. “However, state support for higher education has fallen dramatically over the past 25 years. Previously, state support covered 75 percent of a public university’s operational expenses. Now it is less than 25 percent. On average, Michigan’s universities receive $1,500-$2,000 less per student than our national peers. … The state’s drastic 30 percent cut to higher education funding over the past decade has shifted most of the burden of paying for college from the state to students and their families.”

The proposed budget also gives the Michigan State University AgBioResearch and Extension each a 6.1 percent increase, $3.4 million from the General Fund.

Pscholka said he was pleased to see that increase because his district takes advantage of MSU’s agriculture research and programs.

Michael Boulus, executive director of the Presidents Council State Universities of Michigan, said the universities are pleased with the increase.

“The states with the most college graduates are those leading the way in prosperity, and in Michigan the best way to increase college attainment is to invest in our institutions creating those graduates,” Boulus said. “We view the governor’s recommendation as a significant and strategic reinvestment in Michigan’s public universities.”

The budget also increases funding in the Tuition Incentive Program by $1.5 million, all from General Fund, and provides state authority rent payments of $124.8 million to support debt service for recently constructed university building projects.

Overall, the budget is $1.51 billion ($1.22 billion General Fund, $200.5 million School Aid Fund), a 5.7 percent increase from the current year (7.2 percent increase General Fund, no change School Aid Fund).

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