Wayne State University's Board of Governors today unanimously agreed by resolution to hold undergraduate resident tuition increases to the rate of inflation, or no lower than 2.4 percent during the 2004-2005 academic year.
This action follows a proposal made by Governor Jennifer Granholm in her December executive order and reinforced during the "State of the State" address on Jan. 27. During her address, Granholm mentioned that Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid had agreed to ask his board to adopt the tuition restraint recommendations.

According to the proposal, Michigan's universities that agree to follow the proposal must hold their tuition increases to no more than inflation, which is anticipated to be about 2.4 percent. In return, participating institutions will receive a 2 percent cut instead of a 5 percent cut in their state appropriations for 2003-04 and receive no further state reductions in the base budget for 2004-05.

Wayne State University has had to make difficult budget decisions and sacrifices during the past fiscal year as state appropriations to higher education have already been reduced by 10.2 percent, or $25.4 million overall for the university. As a result of the cuts, the university has had to operate with fewer resources and yet continue to provide the high quality of educational services that its students rightfully expect.

In an effort to address the latest cut, the university is continuing to examine several cost-cutting measures to further reduce its budget demands without compromising the current level of services to students.

During the past year, the university implemented cost-cutting programs designed to meet the challenges posed by declining state appropriations and a series of three budget cuts handed out to higher education.

Among measures taken to deal with the decreasing state revenue, Wayne State enacted a workforce reduction plan through a hiring freeze on all non-academic positions and academic support positions, layoffs and a retirement incentive plan to non-academic personnel; restructured health insurance plans; deferred and limited salary increases; and reorganized and consolidated administrative divisions.

The university continues its review of key business practices to identify opportunities to streamline operations and reduce costs, an initiative begun in fiscal year 1999-2000.