Friday News Roundup: Week of January 30-February 3

University of Missouri campuses seek tuition increases

Scene set for an Iowa school financing fight

Washington House GOP’s budget spends $580M more on education

Mississippi universities say financial aid running short

University of Missouri campuses seek tuition increases
A meeting of the University of Missouri Board of Curators held this week yielded difficult news. Facing a proposed 12.5 percent cut to state funding in the 2013 fiscal year, the campuses are proposing tuition hikes that will help make up the shortfall. The smallest increase requested is for three percent at the system’s Kansas City campus; the largest is 8.2 percent at the University of Missouri—St. Louis. The Kansas City Chancellor Leo Morton said that, rather than dramatically increase tuition, the school would try to recruit more students. Under Governor Jay Nixon’s proposed 2013 budget, the state university system will have lost about 25 percent of their state funding over the past three years. The Board did not vote on the proposed tuition hikes, but will meet again to reevaluate the hikes as the state legislature continues its budget process. More here…

Scene set for an Iowa school financing fight
This year, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad asked state lawmakers not to comply with a law requiring them to pass a state cap on public school spending within thirty days of his budget proposal to the legislature. The “allowable growth” limit, as it is known, is intended to provide school districts with a sense of state K-12 education funding for the following year so that they can plan district-wide finances. This year, Governor Branstad has proposed a package of likely high-cost education reforms, and asked lawmakers to focus on those reforms rather than set growth rates. He that the growth rates law should be repealed. At the same time, the Senate Education Committee approved a bill setting the allowable growth rate at 4 percent (one percent of growth costs the state approximately $31 million). The bill, however, must also be approved by the full Senate to take effect. More here…

Washington House GOP’s budget spends $580M more on education
A $13.7 billion budget produced by Washington state House Republicans this week included $580 million more for K-12 education than Governor Chris Gregoire’s budget proposal – at least, according to the lawmakers who introduced it. Democratic lawmakers in the state question that pronouncement, pointing out that Republican leaders didn’t specify whether the cost would be offset by cuts to social services, higher education, or other programs.  The bill runs counter to some of Governor Gregoire’s proposed cuts; it would maintain the 180-day school year, provide full funding at 2012 levels for tax-poor districts, and submit $340 million in state payments on schedule. The proposed budget is controversial, and the Democratic Chairwoman of the House Education Appropriations and Oversight Committee, Kathy Haigh, planned to kill the bill in committee. House Democrats and a bipartisan coalition in the Senate are currently preparing their own budget proposals, expected to be released later this month. More here…

Mississippi universities say financial aid running short
According to Mississippi Higher Education Commissioner Hank Bounds, state scholarship funds proposed by Governor Phil Bryant in his fiscal year 2013 budget are insufficient to cover the state’s financial aid needs. Affected students will include more than 20,000 recipients of the Mississippi Tuition Assistance Grant program. In fiscal year 2012, the state provided $31 million in student financial aid, including $26.9 million in state appropriations, which was supplemented by funds collected from student loan repayments. Governor Bryant’s proposed fiscal year 2013 budget would hold state appropriations steady at nearly $27 million. But according to the state College Board, between the ongoing needs of the program and increased state aid eligibility following changes to the federal Pell Grant program, the state’s financial aid fund will be short by almost 14 percent in fiscal year 2013. More here…