UM system spokeswoman: Budget cuts 'all speculation'
Reports that the UM system's budget could be cut by as much as 10 percent next year are "all speculation," a spokeswoman said Thursday evening.
UM system spokeswoman Jennifer Hollingshead said the UM system had not made any formal announcements about its budget projections for Fiscal Year 2011. She said that UM system president Gary Forsee had spoken at an economic summit hosted by Gov. Jay Nixon, but said that his remarks were not official predictions of the system's fiscal condition.
"It's all speculation at this point," Hollingshead said. "I think we've known that there will be reduction, but we're not even in the legislative session, let alone the end of the session when budgets are set."
Tuition at Missouri public colleges and universities has not risen since 2007, when Nixon reached a tuition freeze agreement with the institutions. The agreement said tuition would not rise if the legislature did not cut higher education spending by more than 5.2 percent.
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