LePage ups ante in UMS funding request
Gov. Paul LePage said that the University of Maine System will have to do more than freeze tuition for two years to avoid cuts to its $176 million state appropriation.
On Monday, UMS trustees approved a measure to freeze in-state undergraduate tuition for two years if the state retains its current funding. Capitol News Service reports that LePage wants the system to freeze tuition for four years and do more to attract out-of-state students before he considers a level appropriation "and maybe a little bit more" for the university system.
"I will freeze and maybe increase appropriations if they lock [in] tuition for every freshman class for four years," he told CNS. "In other words, whatever the tuition is for a freshman, it stays for four consecutive years until he gets his degree."
Ryan Low, director of governmental and external affairs for UMS, said that university system representatives have not yet met with the governor to discuss the proposals. He told CNS that he interprets the governor's counter-offer as a request not to freeze tuition for four more years, but for three more years since university trustees first approved a tuition freeze last year.
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments