With States Still Swimming in Red Ink, Higher-Education Budgets Stay Tight

State tax revenues are gradually improving in most places, but not quickly enough to put state budgets in the black, so the fiscal outlook for higher education remains bleak. At least 15 states project midyear cuts, totaling nearly $27-billion, for the current budget year, says a report from the National Conference of State Legislatures. In the next fiscal year, which will begin on July 1 for most states, 32 states predict budget gaps amounting to at least $83-billion.