Budget plan would give universities 3 percent hike

By MIRIAM MOELLER, Journal Staff Writer and The Associated Press
MARQUETTE — The state Senate has approved a spending plan that would give each of Michigan’s 15 public universities the same percentage increase in aid next year.


Each school would get a 3 percent increase.


“That puts us in the middle innings of the ball game,” said Les Wong, president of Northern Michigan University. “The numbers are moving in the direction that are quite positive for us. Everyone is again recognizing that education is a key strategy to getting out of the recession.”


Wong said the passage of the Senate bill is good news, but he remains cautious until the House produces its version of the bill.


“The start is good, the middle is good,” he said. “But a lot depends on the state revenue and there are a lot of unanswered questions.”


Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm wants to base the increase on factors such as how much research is done and how many students graduate from each university. That formula would give some schools more than a 6-percent increase and others just over 2 percent.


The Republican-led Senate prefers an across-the-board increase.


It approved the university spending bill 37 to 1 on Tuesday and sent it to the House, which will start working on university funding next month.


Michigan universities are getting less in state aid for operations now than they did in the 2002 fiscal year, which officials said has resulted in higher tuition increases.


Community colleges would get increases in state aid ranging from 2.4 percent to 3.9 percent under a budget approved by the Senate, which is in line with Granholm’s plan.