Governor Nikki Haley recently released her Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2012-2013. In it, she recommends that state general funds and appropriations from the state lottery for the need-based higher education Tuition Grants be funded at levels similar to last year.

Gov. Haley also recommends that the state's merit scholarships-Palmetto Fellows, LIFE, HOPE, and Tuition Assistance-be fully funded for eligible students. In order to do this, the Governor proposes to add an additional $17.1 million in state spending.

PASCAL, the Partnership Among South Carolina's Academic Libraries, is slated to receive $164,289 in general funds for the next fiscal year, the same amount that it received in FY 2011-2012. Gov. Haley did not include PASCAL in the Lottery's Excess Unclaimed Prize account. Last year the General Assembly authorized up to $1.5 million for PASCAL if there was sufficient unclaimed prize money at the end of the year. The actual amount of the funding, if any, will not be known until the books close in June.

The next stop for the FY 2013 state budget is the House Ways and Means Committee. On Tuesday, January 17, Earl Mayo, executive director of the Higher Education Tuition Grants Commission, appeared before the Higher Education and Cultural Affairs subcommittee. Mr. Mayo requested that the subcommittee recommend an increase of more than $3.5 million for Tuition Grants. The additional funds will help to offset normal inflationary increases plus the loss of federal LEAP and SLEAP grants which were cut in the federal budget.

Advocates for independent higher education and student financial aid still have time to make their voices heard. The full Ways and Means Committee will begin budget deliberations during the week of February 21. House floor deliberation will begin the week of March 13. Letters and telephone calls to House members in support of SCICU's legislative priorities  should be sent before these dates.

When Congress returned to Washington last month, one of the most pressing unresolved matters was the finalization of the FY 2012 budget which has been limping along under a series of Continuing Resolutions since the fiscal year began last October 1. Concurrent with the FY 2012 discussions, Congressional committees also are beginning to form the FY 2013 federal budget. President Obama's FY 2013 Budget will be sent to Congress next week.

Against that backdrop and the continuing uncertainty surrounding student financial aid, President Betsy Fleming of Converse College, President Cleveland Sellers of Voorhees College, and SCICU President Mike LeFever attended the annual meeting of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Washington last week. Presidents Fleming and Sellers serve on the organization's Board of Directors.

While in Washington, Mr. LeFever visited the offices of South Carolina's Senate and House members to discuss the growing concerns of our state's independent colleges and universities over funding for student aid and proposed regulations by the Department of Education.

Notable concerns include: maintaining a $5,500 Pell Grant maximum, extending the tuition tax deduction and IRA Charitable Rollover, funding Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, Work Study, and Perkins Loans, and maintaining federal student loan benefits. SCICU also called for a collaborative approach for designing programs and requirements for teacher preparation as part of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, better known as No Child Left Behind.

Recent proposals on student aid and college affordability offered by President Obama in his State of the Union address will require increased scrutiny by the higher education community. SCICU will continue to work with NAICU and other national groups in the best interest of our members and the students who look to our institutions for a values-oriented, liberal arts education.

• Sample letter to South Carolina Congressional Delegation date January 31, 2012 

A $5000 grant from the Foundation for Independent Higher Education will help SCICU reach the goals of the Trustees Challenge fundraising campaign launched last October. The Development Committee will use the FIHE grant to sponsor a series of 5 donor receptions to introduce potential donors to SCICU and its member colleges and universities.

The Trustee Challenge encourages current trustees, with the exception of the college presidents, to secure unrestricted gifts from new donors who have not given to SCICU in the past year. Funds received through the Unrestricted Program are distributed each year to the member colleges and universities based on a formula approved by the Board of Trustees. This past year, almost $100,000 was raised and distributed to the colleges; however, with the recent poor economy, giving to the unrestricted campaign has declined by almost 50% since 2006. A successful Trustee Challenge will expand the pool of donors to SCICU's unrestricted scholarship program.

Recent mailings provided our Trustees with support and resource material to assist them in meeting the challenge. Receptions are scheduled for the months of March and April in Greenville, Spartanburg, Columbia, Myrtle Beach and Columbia. Event details can be found under the Calendar of Events or by contacting Eddie Shannon.

Voorhees College and Columbia College uploaded campus videos to the SCICU College Guide during the past month. This brings the number of SCICU members linking videos to the interactive guide to 14. Schools wanting to add their videos to this valuable independent college recruiting resource should contact Mike LeFever.