3/31/2011 - Jackson, Miss.

"The Board of Trustees and I are grateful that the FY 2012 proposed budget reduces our universities' budgets less than two percent from FY 2011 appropriations," said Dr. Bettye Neely, president of the Board of Trustees of the State Institutions of Higher Learning. "We understand that, in these difficult economic times, this is the best-case scenario for our institutions. Our universities will continue to be good stewards of the taxpayers' money and use all resources wisely to move our state forward."

"The members of the Mississippi House of Representatives and Senate are to be commended for their hard work and spirit of compromise that resulted in an agreement on the FY 2012 budget last night. I appreciate the leadership of Governor Haley Barbour, Lieutenant Governor Phil Bryant, Speaker of the House Billy McCoy, House Appropriations Chair Johnny Stringer and Senate Appropriations Chair Doug Davis throughout this process and the focus they have placed on education during this time of great fiscal stress," said Dr. Hank M. Bounds, Commissioner of Higher Education. "By cutting universities by less than two percent, the Legislature has demonstrated that they understand the importance of higher education in economic recovery. Understanding the national recession and in anticipation of reduced state revenues, our universities built business plans two years ago that will allow them to manage within the proposed budget."

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