IHL hands out funds to schools

The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning voted and approved the allocation of state appropriated funds within the system.

State appropriated funds for FY 2010, which include FY 2009 and FY 2010 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars, total nearly $799.2 million. This represents a 1.3 percent increase over the original FY 2009 appropriation of $788.7 million.

The board voted to approve the allocation of funds as follows:

- On and off campus (eight universities): $420.4 million (down 0.2 percent)

- Student financial aid: $31.9 million (up 4.9 percent)

- University of Mississippi Medical Center: $236.7 million (up 3.0 percent)

- Agricultural programs: $82.1 million (up 1.1 percent)

- Institutes and centers: $28 million (up 7.8 percent)

The board also voted to approve a request by the University of Mississippi to begin the process to issue bonds to support the second phase of its residential college project. The project will provide 310 double-occupancy and 13 single-occupancy rooms. The bond won’t exceed $18.5 million.