The Chronicle of Higher Education reported in late July that estimates of states’ tax revenue shortfalls will likely result in more funding deficits for higher education. The news comes after most states have filed budgets for the 2010 fiscal year. Eleven states are already rethinking those budgets, expecting midyear cuts for a total of more than $22 billion so far.

Governor Bill Ritter (D) of Colorado told public colleges and other state agencies to prepare for a reduction of up to 10%. In Maryland, $37 million was cut after revenue projections fell by $700 million, threatening University of Maryland’s tuition freeze. Chancellor William E. (Brit) Kirwan of the University System of Maryland said that the cut “certainly raises the possibility of a tuition increase” for spring 2010. Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine (D) has warned of a possible 5–15% midyear cut in addition to the nearly 9% decrease adopted under the 2009–2010 budget. These and other potential midyear shrinkages indicate that the nearly $40 billion in federal-stimulus money marked for education budgets might not be enough. To complicate matters, states must keep spending levels above amounts spent in 2005–2006 to receive the fiscal-stabilization funding or apply for a waiver, an option many are pursuing. But there’s a catch to the waiver from the U.S. Department of Education: spending cuts in education must be proportional to others areas. So far, seven of the forty-four states approved to receive stimulus funds have applied for and been granted such waivers: Florida, Idaho, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.