Central Michigan University received the largest funding cut of any state university in Gov. Rick Snyder’s recent budget proposal, and university officials are ready to accommodate the financial blow.

If state lawmakers approve the proposal as is, CMU will receive $61,431,100 in state appropriations for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 — a 23.3-percent cut in funding from the current fiscal year when CMU received $80,132,000.

Comparable cuts in proposed funding •CMU 23.34 percent •Michigan State University 21.46 percent •Wayne State University 20.99 percent •Western Michigan University 20.75 percent •University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) 19.39 percent •Eastern Michigan University 19.34 percent *Source of percent decrease: FY 2011-12 Higher Education Appropriations: Governor’s Recommendation

Snyder set aside $83 million of additional funding for universities that do not raise tuition above 7.1 percent as an incentive.

“The cut is even for everyone at 15 percent,” said Kurt Weiss, spokesman for the state budget office. “Where the variation comes into play is if universities do not hold their tuition costs down.”

CMU could qualify for an additional $6,677,800 from the tuition incentive grant.

In an interview March 17 with the CM Life Editorial Board, University President George Ross said there is no possibility that tuition will be raised by 7.1 percent or more.

“There will be an increase,” he said. "It will be modest.”

Weiss said that cutoff of 7.1 percent was selected because it was the average five-year tuition increase at all public universities. If a university cannot keep tuition below that figure, Weiss said its cut becomes what the average tuition hike was at that school. He said CMU’s average tuition hike was 8.3 percent.

When calculating CMU’s tuition hikes, Ross hypothesized the state budget office did not account for the CMU Promise, which froze tuition for incoming students from 2005 to the summer of 2008. He said this could have resulted in an artificially higher average tuition increase for students with expiring eligibility.

“I want (the budget office) to understand we graduated thousands of students with no (tuition) increases,” he said of the CMU Promise.

Weiss said Snyder understands the cuts are painful, but they will help balance the budget so education can be a priority in the future.

State Rep. Kevin Cotter, R-Mount Pleasant, who serves on the appropriations committee and higher education sub-committee, said he likes the tuition incentive grant.

“It prevents the schools from passing along the full cut to the students,” he said.

David Burdette, vice president of Finance and Administrative Services, said $5.2 million in expense reductions was identified when a number of employee groups took zero percent wage increases in 2010.

“Those funds are ready for budget reductions,” he said during the March 17 meeting.

Students will have the opportunity to discuss the proposal at a University Budget Forum from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday in the Charles V. Park Library auditorium. Burdette will explain the impact the state budget will have on CMU’s budget, tuition and room and board.

Garden City senior Brittany Mouzourakis, president of the Student Government Association, said Kathy Wilbur, vice president of Development and External Relations, will cover the politics behind the budget cuts and the “state of higher education in general.”