Universities Weblog

Education in Tennessee seems to be constantly on the chopping block. The revenue stream in Tennessee is less predictable than in most states because there is no state income tax – just an outrageous sales tax.

The Pacer, an independent paper at UT-Martin, carried a story back in late September that quoted UT President John Petersen:

"Education and higher education were protected for a long time, and the hole got deep enough that they (the governor and the legislature) couldn't do that, and we ended up with about a 4.1 percent cut across the state, which for us at the University of Tennessee is a little bit over $22 million," Petersen said.

the Pacer piece said that Petersen and the UT Board of Trustees were trying to balance rising costs, budget cuts and tuition increases. UT upped tuition by 6 percent for 2008-09.

Now a piece this week in the Chattanooga Times Free Press that the $22 million figure has been reduced to about $17 million. But statewide revenue is still running over $100 million short of budget needs, the size of the cuts could eventually grow…

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Bill Manning

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