GVSU President reminds state lawmakers of their constitutional obligation to fund higher education

As state lawmakers work on the 2011 state budget, Grand Valley University President Thomas Haas reminded them of their constitutional and moral obligation to fund higher education, saying that it's "apparent that higher education is no longer the funding priority it once was" after years of cutbacks.

"These are strong words, and I mean them," he testified last Friday before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for Higher Education in Saginaw last week. Cuts in funding leaves administrators with little recourse but to raise tuition, which means a tax increase to students and their parents.

According to excerpts from the story:

"All but one of you attended a Michigan public university. This you were able to do because your parents and grandparents paid taxes to create and sustain the finest group of public universities in the country. You benefited personally from their willingness to support higher education."

Read the complete story here.