From the Detroit News:
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Lawmakers also heard testimony from Ferris State University student Emily Leask, 20, who asked them to properly fund the Native American Tuition Waiver, which covers the cost of tuition for Michigan residents who are one-quarter Native American.
Without the assistance, “I would be greatly in debt and questioning whether I could even continue school,” said Leask, a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.
The original intention of the Native American Tuition Waiver was that the state would fully reimburse universities for providing free tuition for Native American students, but that has not been the case — leaving universities essentially with an unfunded mandate, Lake Superior State University president Rodney L. Lowman said. The lack of state support has created a fiscal burden on LSSU, with the highest percentage of Native American Tuition Waiver students, Lowman said.
“We believe that this is an area that can and should be corrected,” Lowman said.
Rep. Gary McDowell, D-Rudyard, agreed.
“It’s very important we adequately fund the Native American Tuition Waiver,” McDowell said at the hearing.
The governor has also asked universities to freeze tuition this year in exchange for an undetermined cut of federal stimulus money. Her budget proposal cuts appropriations to universities about 3 percent, and higher education leaders have signaled that tuition increases and significant cuts would be necessary if her budget proposal passes.
Asked about the possibility of a tuition freeze, LSSU’s Lowman said the state should not plug the 3 percent proposed appropriations decrease with one-time stimulus money. “It is not … fiscally responsible to limit appropriations to universities or plug that gap on a short-term basis with stimulus money,” Lowman said.
Northern Michigan University president Les Wong echoed that sentiment, saying holding the line on tuition today only prolongs significant tuition hikes in 2012, when stimulus money dries up.
“How does the university make up the difference and continue to offer a high quality education?” Wong asked.
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