Student costs riding on state higher education budget drama

By Matt Murphy. Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposed budget for next year includes a sizeable new investment in public university campuses, but may fall short of what would be required to freeze student tuition and fees for a second year despite his administration’s confidence that it is sufficient. Patrick’s fiscal 2015 plan calls for an increase of $68.4 million in spending on higher education, including a $36.9 million bump for the University of Massachusetts and its five campuses. The proposed funding level, however, falls about $2.5 million short of the $518.8 million budget for UMass that lawmakers, the administration and university officials agreed to last year and codified in the current budget as a condition for freezing tuition and fees. More...