CORRECTION APPENDED: By The Numbers said Gov. Jennifer Granholm has signed zero appropriations bills. She has signed many appropriations bills, just none so far this year.

The amount of money the University will receive from the state for the 2008 fiscal year is still up in the air.

Although the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, legislators in the Democratic-controlled state House of Representatives and the Republican-controlled state Senate are still trying to resolve a projected $1.6 billion deficit.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm and House Democrats are supporting a plan to increase funding to state universities by at least 2.5 percent, but Republicans say the state can't afford to spend the extra money. The University would receive a 5.3 percent funding increase under the plan.

State funding makes up about 25 percent of the University's budget.

Rep. Pam Byrnes, a Democrat whose district includes the University of Michigan's North Campus, sponsored a pair of bills in the House to increase funding. She said she hopes an increase in appropriations will persuade universities to re-evaluate raising tuition.

The University of Michigan's Ann Arbor campus raised undergraduate tuition by 7.4 percent this year, and public universities in general raised tuition by an average of 10 percent.

But even if the Senate passes the funding increase, the tuition increase is unlikely to be reversed.

Cynthia Wilbanks, the University's vice president for government relations, said differences in budgets from year to year make it difficult for appropriations and tuition to always correspond. She refused to speculate on the possibility of a tuition decrease for the winter term if state funding is increased, especially because the proposed funding increase is far from being signed into law and could be gutted by the Senate.

Any change in tuition would have to be approved by the University Board of Regents at one of its monthly meetings.

State Democrats blame tuition hikes on Republicans. A statewide student group called Stop Raising Tuition was formed over the summer to protest the tuition hikes. The group filmed a series of YouTube videos on campuses around the state that show students criticizing Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) for refusing to agree to increased funding for universities.

Group member Travis Radina, who is also a member of the University's chapter of the College Democrats, said the group aims to increase support for higher education in the Michigan legislature.

"I think that certain governmental leaders are doing their part," Radina said in a written statement. "Governor Granholm has proposed increases in higher education funding, but the Democratic Party doesn't control all of Lansing. The state Senate, and Majority Leader Bishop are not acting with the urgency that is needed in these situations."

Granholm has launched www.lowermituition.com, which includes posters intended for students to hang on their dorm doors blaming the legislature's failure to increase higher education appropriations earlier in the year for the tuition hikes.

One of the posters is a mock postcard to college students from vacationing legislators apologizing for the tuition increases. Another reads, in part: "Missing: Our state legislature. Last seen on vacation while tuition rates rose."

Because of the deficit, Bishop has opposed increasing funding levels for higher education this year. In a statement released last month, Bishop suggested that universities should decrease the salaries and benefits of their administrators. Republicans have called for cuts across state government to make up for the deficit.

The Senate passed a bill last week that would allow 28 percent of state employees to retire early, but many Democrats oppose the measure.

Democrats have suggested new revenue sources, including income tax hikes and allowing horse tracks to open casinos, but the House hasn't voted on any. Many Republicans say they won't support tax increases to cover the deficit.

If the two chambers can't agree on a budget by the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, the state government could face a shutdown. That means state agencies wouldn't have money to spend and most non-essential services would stop. The University, which receives almost $30 million from the state every month except September, would be forced to.

The funding increase, passed by the House last month, was separated into two bills.

In a change from past budgets, the House approved separate appropriations bills last month - one for the state's three research universities, including the University of Michigan, and one for the state's 12 other public universities.