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Monday, June 30, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

BUDGET
From Page 2
a 5.6-percent increase in under-
graduate tuition on an estimated
state appropriation increase of 2
percent, a figure double the actual
increase.
University spokeswoman Kelly
Cunningham said in an e-mail inter-
view that administrators estimated
a state appropriations increase
between 1 and 2 percent, but chose
to draft the University's budget
based on the higher end of the antic-
ipated range. The goal, she said, was

to keep the tuition increase at 5.6
percent. Administrators planned
to delay new investment initiatives
if the state budget was lower than
anticipated.
Cunningham said final decisions
haven't been made regarding which
new initiatives will be postponed
or cut. She said Provost Teresa Sul-
livan has mentioned the University
would carry out its plan to hire 100
new faculty members at a slower
pace that originally intended.
"One investment that we will
absolutely maintain is the 10.8-per-
cent increase in centrally-awarded
financial aid," Cunningham said.

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TUITION
From Page 1
Out-of-stateundergraduates will
see a $1,768 tuition increase, put-
ting a new $33,069 price tag on one
year of education at the University.
The Board also approved an addi-
tional5-percent tuition increase for
students in the Rackham School of
Graduate Studies. The University
is expected to receive $54 million
in additional revenue from the new
tuition rates.
Along with increases in tuition,
the Board also approved a 10.8-
percent 'increase in undergradu-
ate financial aid provided by the
University's general fund. The
budget now sets aside $107.6 mil-
lion for financial aid - up from
the $99 million awarded from the
general fund last year. The new
funding represents an 8.6-per-
cent across-the-board increase in
all financial aid.
Provost Teresa Sullivan said
the expanded financial aid would
ensure every student could have
full access to an education at the
University. She said tuition was
increased faster than the rate of
inflation only after cost-cutting
measures were taken.
"I want to make the case in
terms of access: that Michigan
tuition is affordable to all Michigan
kids," Sullivan said. "We have had
and continue to have a financial aid
package that makes it possible for
any Michigan resident to attend
the University."
The regents approved the new

measures by a voice vote. There
was no discussion of the budget
or the tuition increases during
the meeting before the Regents'
approved it.
Along with next year's higher
tuition rates and increased finan-
cial aid, the regents also approved a
4-percent increase in existing fac-
ulty and staff salaries.
Sullivan said the salary
increase was necessary so that
the University could remain com-
petitive with other elite colleges
and universities.
"We are in desperate competi-
tion for the top minds with the
rest of the schools around the
country and increasingly with
schools around the world," Sul-
livan said.
The information presented to
the regents cited schools like Har-
vard, Yale and Princeton as some of
the University's top competitors in
the fight for faculty.
Philip Hanlon, vice provost for
academic and budgetary affairs,
said this year's budgetalso includes
$19.5 million in cuts or realloca-
tions to the general fund.
Despite taking more than $117
million in cost-cutting measures
over the past five years, Hanlon
said this year's general fund budget
would still include a 4.54-percent
increase in total spending. This
year's total budget expenditure
will be approximately $1.4 billion.
Hanlon said this year's larger
budget can be attributed to fac-
tors other than financial aid and
salary increases, including addi-
tional funding to hire 100 new

interdisciplinary faculty, rising
energy costs and more compre-
hensive medical benefits for Uni-
versity employees.
Though the newly approved fac-
ulty hiring is expected to take five
years, Hanlon said the new posi-
tions would eventually decrease
the student-to-instructor ratio
from 15.1:1 to 14.8:1.
Hanlon said bringing in more
faculty would help keep the Uni-
versity competitive in the area of
research. Sullivan added that the
new hires would help improve the
University's undergraduate pro-
gram and enhance the "academic
vitality" of campus.
All ofthe decisions for this year's
budget were based on a projected
2-percent increase in state funding
that would allocate roughly $320
million to the University.
The University received a 1-per-
cent increase in state funding. The
difference will likely made up by
postponingnewinitiatives, accord-
ing to University spokeswoman
Kelly Cunningham.
Though the regents normally
approve the University's budget
after state allocations have already
been determined, Sullivan said the
earlier decision was meant to help
students who are making plans to
pay for their education.
"I felt it was unfair, particularly
for our entering students, to have
to wait so long to know what their
tuition is," Sullivan said. "This way
we'll be able to let students know
much earlier what the tuition bill
is going to look like, and that was
really our biggest reason."

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