The Indiana House of Representatives passed more than a state budget proposal Thursday. It laid the university's fiscal foundation for the next two years.
But it has asked students to build upon that foundation out of their own pockets.
The budget proposal, which passed 51-49, gives Ball State some new research money and would restore cuts made to last year's budget, a "very good statement," said Tom Morrison, the director of state fiscal relations.
Restoring the budget cuts put the university back at square one.
The budget does little, however, to increase faculty salaries -- President Blaine Brownell's top priority as Ball State crafts its own budget in the next several months, Brownell said.
Students will cover this expense through tuition and fee increases, Brownell said.
"Hopefully, we won't be dealing with double-digit (increases)," Brownell said.
Tuition has already gone up by about 23 percent for next year's new students and freshmen because of the $1,000 fee increase approved by the Board of Trustees. Administrators, though, haven't discussed next year's tuition beyond the $1,000 increase, Brownell said. He said they are waiting for the budget proposal to pass both chambers of the General Assembly.
Even though the proposal passed the House, no House Republicans supported it, and Brownell expects Senate Republicans to make changes.
Senate Finance Chairman Larry Borst, R-Indianapolis, told the Associated Press that the budget bill would spend between $800 million and $1.2 billion more than the state expects to take in over the next two years.
The state would still have a surplus at the end of the next two years, but only because of the one-time account transfers.
Borst has also publicly discussed the possibility of placing a tuition cap on universities in his version of the budget bill, though he has never pledged such action.
"Chances are (the) budget will be cut to counteract the $1,000 increase," Borst said. "Universities ought to commit to the real world. I just hope they don't price students out of college."
Brownell, however, said he has not witnessed any "significant sentiment" for the idea among legislators.
Every two years, the state creates its budget. Traditionally, the state pays for about 66 percent of universities' costs. That support, though, has fallen to about 60 percent due to Indiana's struggling economy, Morrison said.
Legislators often guarantee that universities will receive no less money than the previous year's budget -- known as the base budget.
But to shore up a $1.3 billion deficit last year, Gov. Frank O'Bannon effectively cut Ball State's base budget by about $3.7 million. This cut would have set back all future budgets and made students even more responsible for paying for university initiatives.
When the current budget cycle began last year, the university asked legislators to revive the base budget to its original level of approximately $209 million.
They then asked to increase that base by $7.9 million from 2003 through 2004 and $4.3 million from 2004 through 2005.
The increases, among other things, would have dedicated approximately $6.7 million over the next two years to adjust salaries by 4 percent for inflation.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation increased by about 2.4 percent last year, and it increases by about 2 percent each year.
Finally, the university sought $21 million for the Communication Media Building and $6,332,098 to fund the Building Better Communities Applied Research Initiative, a community-based outreach program.
The initiative incorporates the Business College, Teachers College, College of Architecture and Planning and College of Applied Science and Technology.
Legislators partially honored Ball State's requests Thursday after they restored the base budget. However, they only agreed to pay enough to adjust salaries for a 1 percent increase in inflation for the next two years.
"One percent is not that generous," said economics professor Cecil Bohanon.
Legislators also refused to fund the Building Better Communities Initiative, though Brownell has already visited about a dozen cities seeking partners.
Brownell said he will not use tuition or fees to subsidize the venture. Tuition, he said, will only be used for "very basic budget needs."
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