New Jersey’s public colleges may be paying the price for financial mismanagement at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Gov. Jon S. Corzine, a Democrat, told The Philadelphia Inquirer’s editorial board on Thursday that he had proposed deep cuts in higher-education spending in part because of continuing financial irregularities and ethical breaches at the health-sciences university, which is now under federal supervision.

The $30.9-billion budget, introduced on Tuesday by Governor Corzine, includes $169-million in higher-education spending cuts, or about 8 percent of state support. College officials have reacted with dismay, saying they expected Mr. Corzine to be more friendly to higher education, based on his record in the U.S. Senate.

The governor said any additional savings that could be found in the state budget should go toward restoring some of the cuts. But he also made it clear that he is concerned about how state colleges may be spending taxpayer money. Auditors have found that the University of Medicine and Dentistry may have overbilled the Medicaid program by as much as $70-million over the last decade (The Chronicle, March 9), the most recent revelation in a string of troubling disclosures at the institution, including allegations of financial mismanagement, influence peddling, and potential criminal misconduct (The Chronicle, June 17, 2005).

“Frankly, the [medical-school] issue tells me there may be management weaknesses,” Governor Corzine told the Inquirer. It “tells me that the institutions are not as disciplined as we would like. ... This is not an accusation, but if there are weaknesses in one, there could be weaknesses in others.”

And the governor, who already has replaced the medical university’s president (The Chronicle, January 24), warned that if colleges raised tuition rather than tightening administrative expenses, he could “get to the tipping point” toward revamping New Jersey’s largely autonomous public higher-education system.