Michigan's public universities would face 3 percent cuts in state aid based on a bill moving through the state Senate.
A Republican-led Senate subcommittee approved a bill Thursday with the spending reductions for the budget year that begins Oct. 1. The bill budgets about $1.5 billion for universities and now goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
A different bill moving through the Senate would spend $290 million on community colleges, down 3 percent from this fiscal year.
Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm has proposed keeping higher education funding steady for the upcoming fiscal year.
The Senate higher education bill restores $32 million to a tuition grant program for students at private colleges.