In a contentious overnight session, Michigan House Republicans passed a series of education budget bills on June 13 that significantly reshape higher education funding and tie appropriations to partisan cultural policies. The legislation includes steep reductions for the state’s flagship universities and language that targets DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) initiatives.
Initially, House Bill 4580 proposed an across-the-board $828.1 million cut to university operational funding. That plan was scaled back in the final bill to a $51.6 million reduction, but the most drastic changes remain focused on Michigan State University (MSU) and the University of Michigan (U-M). The House approved a combined $291 million cut to their funding—$56.6 million (18%) from MSU and $234.4 million (65%) from U-M—citing their large endowments and failure to produce enough in-state graduates.
Additional boilerplate language in the bill threatens to withhold funds from institutions that allow transgender women to compete in women’s sports, host events separated by race or sex, or continue DEI-based programming. These provisions signal a broader attempt by Republicans to steer university policy through budgetary levers.
The savings from these cuts would be redistributed: $22 million to the state’s tuition grant program, $13.3 million to cover Native American tuition waivers, and $13 million for seven institutions in the Michigan Public School Employee Retirement System. The House also passed House Bill 4579, which allocates $456.6 million to community colleges—a $5.56 million (1.2%) decrease, with no general fund support.
The university funding package passed along party lines and now heads to negotiations with the Democratic-controlled Senate and Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who has expressed concerns about the cuts and ideological restrictions.
Whitmer’s negotiations with House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) are expected to be complex. “Hall holds Whitmer’s fate when it comes to what her final success story is,” said Andrea Bitely, founder of Bitely Communications. “She wants to end on a high note.”
Education advocacy groups strongly condemned the House bills. In a joint statement, organizations including AFT Michigan and the Michigan Education Justice Coalition said, “This attack isn’t about fiscal responsibility, it is about cutting funding from our public schools, moving public money into private schools, and punishing school districts who don’t abide by the dangerous MAGA Republican ideology.”
With the Senate and executive branch advancing different priorities, budget negotiations are expected to intensify in the coming weeks.
