House budget could spell 1,500 layoffs, slashes higher ed spending - Kyle Cheney and Michael Norton, GateHouse News Service

Public higher education would see a $132 million cut under the House Ways and Means Committee’s budget proposal for next fiscal year, the largest reduction in a list of $750 million in spending cuts contained in the document, filed Monday and up for floor debate later this month. The budget proposal cuts funding for the University of Massachusetts from $500 million to $430 million, which Ways and Means officials largely attributed to the drying up and redistribution of federal education stimulus funds. Similarly, state colleges would receive $194 million next year, down from $222.6 million last this fiscal year. Community colleges would receive $212 million, down from $244.4 million.