The fiscal year 2016 state budget recommendation released Wednesday by Gov. Rick Snyder includes a 2 percent overall increase in funding for the state’s 15 public universities, bringing total operating funds for universities to nearly $1.4 billion.

For U-M, the recommended funding increases are 1.9 percent on the Ann Arbor campus, 1.7 percent on the Dearborn campus and 2.5 percent on the Flint campus. The budget now goes to the Legislature for consideration. The state’s FY ’16 begins Oct. 1.

“We certainly appreciate the governor’s recommendation for additional state funding, especially in the constrained budget environment this year. This maintains the momentum of increased state investment in higher education,” says Cynthia Wilbanks, vice president for government relations. “We look forward to working closely with state officials as this recommendation moves through the legislative process in the coming months.”

The increased operational funding for universities would be distributed using a modified version of the existing performance funding criteria. Those metrics take into consideration such factors as weighted undergraduate completions in critical skills areas, research spending, six-year graduation rates, total completions, administrative costs as a percentage of core expenditures, and the percentage of students receiving Pell Grants.

The governor’s recommendation also calls on universities to limit tuition increases to 2.8 percent to receive any new performance funding.

Statewide, the funding increases at the 15 state universities vary from 4 percent at Grand Valley State University to 0.6 percent at Wayne State University.

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• state funding