David Jesse

Detroit Free Press

If Michigan's universities want to get the full increase in state funding Gov. Rick Snyder will propose in his budget, they will have to keep tuition increases under 3.8% or $475 per student, according to documents shared with the Free Press. If they go over that cap, universities would lose their performance funding.

Snyder is recommending an overall increase of 2.5% in funding for higher ed. Half of that increase for each university is guaranteed. The other half is doled out according to performance measures, like graduation rates.

That means some schools – like Wayne State University and Lake Superior State University will get smaller than 2.5% increases while other schools, like Grand Valley State University and Oakland University will see larger than 2.5% increases.

"We have worked diligently each year to increase appropriations for higher education, and I'm proud to now propose an increase that will fully restore higher education funding to previous levels," Snyder said in a statement. "As a state, we need to continue to invest in higher education to develop the talent that will fill the jobs of Michigan's future."

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Snyder is set to announce his budget recommendations on Wednesday morning.

Oakland University President George Hynd was happy to hear his school did so well in the initial recommendation.

"We are encouraged by the governor’s budget recommendation and hope that it doesn’t encounter reductions as it moves through the approval process," he said in a statement to the Free Press. "It was particularly heartening to see that Oakland ranked second in this year’s proposed percentage increase. I am proud of the work our faculty and staff are putting into creating an outstanding student experience and preparing our graduates for their post-educational careers."

He said Oakland is currently developing its budget for next year and doesn't plan to go over the tuition cap.

The 2.5% increase equals $36.6 million in additional funds, bringing the total spending on universities to nearly $1.5 billion.

The increase this year is less than last year, when he asked for a 4.3% increase to bring state aid to universities back to 2011 levels. That's the year before he took office.

The tuition cap last year was 4.8%. No university went over it.

In Snyder's first budget as governor, he cut state funding to universities by 15%. Over the next several years, he has slowly added money back.

The performance funding formula is 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 the percentage of students receiving Pell Grants.

FY 2018 State University Funding ($ in Thousands)

University Operations funding Performance funding* Percent increase Central Michigan University $83,925.50 $2,161.10 2.60% Eastern Michigan University $73,593.80 $1,970.20 2.70% Ferris State University $52,259.90 $1,669.50 3.20% Grand Valley State University $68,227.90 $2,340.20 3.40% Lake Superior State University $13,567.40 $259.60 1.90% Michigan State University $275,862.10 $6,721.30 2.40% Michigan Technological University $48,097.50 $1,193.40 2.50% Northern Michigan University $46,279.20 $1,072.70 2.30% Oakland University $49,920.70 $1,644.00 3.30% Saginaw Valley State University $29,114.00 $815.10 2.80% University of Michigan - Ann Arbor $308,639.00 $7,437.50 2.40% University of Michigan - Dearborn $24,803.30 $773.30 3.10% University of Michigan - Flint $22,549.30 $640.60 2.80% Wayne State University $196,064.50 $3,881.60 2.00% Western Michigan University $107,440.90 $2,419.90 2.30% Operations Subtotal: $1,400,345.00 $35,000.00 2.50% MSU AgBioResearch & Extension $61,915.70 $1,550.00 2.50% Total: $1,462,260.70 $36,550.00 2.50%

*One-half of performance funding is distributed across-the-board and one-half through the performance

formula.

Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterdavidj