Governor Snyder says he's finished cutting higher education, for now.
Ten years ago, state money paid for 35% of Mott Community College's budget.
Now, it provides 20%, while the demand for a higher education continues to climb.
"When I first came here 14 years ago, we had 7,000 students. We now have 12,000 students and we're getting less from the state than we did 10 years ago," says Mott Spokesperson Michael Kelly.
Kelly also says the college has lost $7-million from property values dropping.
Lower values mean lower percentages of millage dollars.
So Mott has had to pass some of the cost to students.
In 2004 the cost of a credit hour was around $70. Now it's around $100.
However, Mott officials say 2/3 of losses have been made up with concessions from employees.
Across the state, public higher education establishments absorbed 15% in cuts, which led them to raise tuition by 7%.
However, schools still face fierce competition for students.
Kelly says, "We really made an effort to keep the quality, to keep the technology current. We don't want to be teaching our students on obsolete technologies. That doesn't do anybody no good."
Colleges say they would be grateful if they had a certainty that no more cuts were coming.
They say funding sometimes drops mid-year, or even at the end of the fiscal year.
For K-12 education, Snyder says he would like to tie funding with student achievement so districts whose students learn more get more money.
