The state budget spending cap is expected to slam down on Connecticut’s public colleges and universities next year, reducing course offerings and teaching posts while triggering further tuition and fees hikes. As the emergency fund surpluses that kept higher education afloat during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic disappear, the cap is blocking advocates who wanted to replace that temporary aid with recurring state funding. Faculty unions, students and legislators gearing up to protect the system will be bumping heads with Gov. Ned Lamont, who’s become the chief defender of fiscal guardrails.
