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Higher Education Commissioner Hank Bounds told the College Board Thursday the schools need money to increase faculty salaries and cover pension contributions.
State money to universities will fall $32 million to $670 million in the 2013 budget year beginning this July 1. Writing the 2014 budget begins this fall, as legislative leaders consider requests.
Board projections call for using $14 million to pay increased state pension contributions. The Legislature paid the higher pension costs for many other agencies in the 2013 budget.
Up to $40 million more would go to increasing faculty salaries. Bounds says Mississippi university salaries have fallen further behind those in other southern states over the last decade.