U-M to see increases if governor's budget plan holds up

Updated 10:00 AM February 11, 2008

U-M to see increases if governor's budget plan holds up

By Laurel Thomas Gnagey

The governor's proposed fiscal year 2009 state budget calls for an overall increase for higher education of 3 percent, with a separate funding plan for the three research universities, U-M, Michigan State and Wayne State.

The proposed allocation for the Ann Arbor campus is $333.6 million; a 3.15-percent increase over the final FY 2008 appropriation. Under Gov. Jennifer Granholm's plan, U-M-Dearborn would receive $26.8 million and U-M-Flint $22.6 million, increases of 5.84 percent and 5.62 percent, respectively.

In presenting the $44.8 billion budget to a joint session of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees Feb. 7, Budget Director Bob Emerson said the governor's inflationary increase for the state's 15 colleges and universities was an attempt to keep college affordable for Michigan families. The plan carries an expectation of tuition restraint at no more than the rate of inflation.

For the second year, the budget plan uses an incentive-based formula for funding that rewards universities for recruiting low-income students, engaging in research and tech transfer, and successfully graduating students.

Both houses will hash over the governor's plan over the next two months. Mary Sue Coleman and the other University Research Corridor presidents, Lou Anna Simon, MSU, and Irvin Reid, WSU, will testify Feb. 19 before the Senate Subcommittee on Higher Education Appropriations. The House committee will begin its hearings in mid-April.

The FY07 appropriation for U-M Ann Arbor was $325.8 million, but the amount was reduced to $320 million by a mid-year rescission. The final FY 08 budget provided $323 million in support. The FY09 proposed budget for Ann Arbor is $30 million less than the 2002 appropriation of $363 million.

U-M to see increases if governor's budget plan holds up

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