Evolve or dissolve. That advice, from a recent report on virtual universities, played out in two news stories last May 2009. The University of Texas' online division is staring down a deep budget hole as it loses a longtime subsidy. In Utah, budget cuts have killed a 10-campus online consortium. Those and other predicaments reflect the growing…

Maryland's governor, Martin J. O'Malley, didn't get much of his legislative agenda through the General Assembly this year, but he did succeed on one front: preserving enough state aid for the public-university system to stave off a tuition increase for the fourth consecutive year. Like politicians in several states, Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, made…

The tight budgets that many governors have recently proposed have public colleges in a growing number of states convinced that lean times have returned. The situation is particularly dire in certain southern states. In many states, higher education budgets are taking a back seat to public schools. In some states, lack of state funding is forcing…

In a number of states, legislatures are successfully opposing governors on budget cuts that would adversely affect colleges and universities, even in states where relations between academics and politicians have been strained recently. (MSE)

A committee studying Texas higher education has withdrawn a controversial proposal to merge institutions, instead adopting a broad set of principles for higher education and specific recommendations for state colleges and universities. The objective is to improve education during state economic decline due to falling oil prices. (MSE)

Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York face giant deficits in their state budgets. The financial impact of the 1986 federal tax reform law was underestimated by colleges and income estimates were overly optimistic for 1988 and 1989. Unpopular, new taxes are seen as the way to solve the budget crunch. (MLW)

A combination of political and economic conditions create a grim outlook for state colleges in most parts of the country, in contrast to the optimism of a few years ago about the use of higher education programs to promote state economies. (MSE)

A report compiled by the Center for Higher Education at Illinois State University, considered to be the definitive study of state financial support for higher education, is described. State appropriations figures continue to follow trends in regional economies. (MLW)

For each of the 50 states, the outlook for higher education in the state legislature in 1992 is outlined. Information includes the date of the legislative session, budget request for higher education, prospects for the request, nonbudget issues likely to be considered, and issues specific to private colleges. (MSE)

The legislative outlook for higher education is summarized state by state. Appropriations requests show the amount sought by state-wide coordinating boards or by individual college and university systems, not by governors. All appropriations requests are for operating expenses of the 1989-1990 fiscal and academic years. (MLW)

A law suit filed by a coalition of Hispanic civil rights and student groups to sue Texas and the boards of its public four-year colleges and universities is discussed. The state is charged with discriminating against Hispanic students by providing fewer programs and giving less money to public colleges with large Hispanic enrollments. (MLW)

The summer drought, the oil-market slump, and the desire for political popularity are among the causes for state financial problems. A report by the National Governors' Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers found that in 1987, the amount of money left in general-fund accounts was at its lowest point in 12 years. (MLW)

A national survey by the National Association of State Scholarship and Grant Programs found that state spending on grants and scholarships for needy undergraduates is expected to rise 13 percent. State budgets, money for graduate students, and new programs planned are discussed. (MLW)

As the mission of the Minnesota Extension Service has broadened, so have its sources of financial support. Historically, extension has been a state-federal partnership, but lately, state and county governments have had to make up for some missing federal dollars. (MLW)