On Wednesday, Sep. 29, Gov. Whitmer signed a new state budget into law that provides funding to universities and students.
The overall budget is set at $70 billion, with $2.2 billion for higher education and $50.7 billion for state programs and agencies. The budget will include a 5% increase in funding for all Michigan public universities, which is around $2 million for Ferris State University. The budget also contains a $2.5 million increase in the Tuition Incentive Program, it also removes the budget cap.
“This is great for TIP students,”Patrick Weisgerber, Tuition Incentive Program coordinator, said. “Not capping the tuition to $200 less means that a student in the first phase of the TIP scholarship will still be able to receive a full-time student’s tuition coverage.”
According to a message from President Eisler, TIP funding was the university’s top legislative priority in Lansing with assistance from TIP student Logan Evans and his testimony. This then led to the approval of the budget through legislators who understood the importance of TIP for students and their future.
The budget will also provide a one-time payment of around $86 million to the seven Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System universities. Ferris’ current budget for MPSERS is $11 million. The $86 million will be paid for those costs as well as reduce pension liability.
The budget will aid in mitigating the university’s rise in MPSERS payments, but details on the amounts being funded to each university have not been released.
The budget also consists of:
A 4% one-time increase in operations with an additional 1% for colleges and universities in Michigan.
$55 million for the Michigan Reconnect program to aid an in-demand industry certificate or associate degree for Michigan adults that are aged 25 and older. Along with $25 million for the Futures for Frontliners scholarship program paying for community college tuition for frontline workers.
A $500 million deposit in the state of Michigan’s rainy-day fund totaling it to around $1.4 billion, according to MLive.
$460 million to set a $2.35 per hour permanent raise for direct care workers.
$196 million for repairing and replacing around 100 bridges in serious conditions, along with $19 million on dam repairs.
The budget went into effect on Oct. 1, the start of the new fiscal year.