Mississippi universities seeking $30 million more in 2015 budget

The College Board

The College Board will seek roughly $30 million more in state money in the 2015 budget year.

The board members voted Thursday to ask the Legislature for the money for Mississippi’s eight public universities.

Although the 2014 budget year doesn’t begin until July 1, state agencies begin planning requests for the following year in the spring, in advance of legislative hearings looking at 2015 requests in the fall.

Higher Education Commissioner Hank Bounds said $20 million would aid operations of the schools, using the new funding formula the board approved earlier this year. Projections show $20 million would provide enough money so every university would get at least a small increase. The board is trying to equalize funding among universities based on how many courses students complete and other factors.

“We are asking for an amount of money so that every campus moves in a positive way,” Bounds told the board.

The remaining $10 million would increase money for financial aid, agricultural units and other operations the Legislature funds separately.

The $20 million would be a 5.7 percent increase in state spending on general university operations. In 2014, the state will spend $252 million, while the board is seeking $272 million in 2015. That would be about what universities received in the 2010 budget year, before state funding cuts.

“Anything that enables us to regain any of the ground we’ve lost during the last few years is extremely important,” said trustee Alan Perry of Jackson. He said that more state aid would help universities hold down tuition increases.

“We’re very concerned about tuition,” Perry said. “It’s a lot of money in a poor state.”

Bounds and trustees have said that declines in state funding, as a share of overall university budgets, has forced them to raise tuition sharply in recent years.

Increases proposed for other units that are funded separately include:

* 2 percent for the University of Mississippi Medical Center and other units operated by Ole Miss, Mississippi State University and the University of Southern Mississippi. At the medical center, an additional 2 percent would add $3.8 million, bringing state funding to $195.8 million.

* 4 percent for financial aid, which Bounds said was necessary to pay for aid and scholarships mandated by the Legislature.

* 5 percent for agriculture units. Bounds said a larger increase was necessary there because agriculture operations generally don’t have students and thus can’t raise tuition to bolster revenue.