Gov. Mark Sanford's plans to cut funding for public colleges and universities have left higher education officials worrying about the possibility of another year of tuition increases for South Carolina students.

What's more, some of these college administrators believe reductions in spending will erode the quality of higher education and slow economic growth.

The governor's office said complaints about less money are "nonsense" because Sanford is counting on more money funneling to the colleges through federal and other dollars.

According to Sanford's proposed budget, unveiled earlier this month, about $13 million would be removed from the colleges' operating budgets in fiscal 2005-06. While this year's budget allocates $704.1 million in general funds for colleges and universities, the proposed budget for the next fiscal year would set aside $690.8 million.

Conrad Festa, executive director of the state's Commission on Higher Education, said public colleges and universities have endured consistent state funding cuts since 2000.

"We need high-quality faculty in order to produce high-quality programs, in order to produce highly qualified citizens for the economic development of the state," Festa said.

College of Charleston President Lee Higdon said his campus has seen nearly $10 million in budget cuts in the past four years.

"Any future cuts in higher education will have a profound impact on the college and could have negative repercussions on our students and programs," Higdon warned.

Already, the college has raised tuition by about 18 percent annually and has cut some programs, said Gary McCombs, senior vice president for business affairs. The latest round of cuts appear close to $500,000 for the college, he said.

"The magnitude of some (tuition) increases has been from a direct loss of state appropriations," McCombs said.could hamper recruiting efforts and ongoing costs of being a coeducational military college, said Col. Curt Holland, vice president for finance and business affairs.

"For us this is a significant hit," Holland said. "No question, we'll have to raise tuition. The question is how much."

Medical University of South Carolina Provost Dr. John Raymond said Sanford's proposed cuts for his school are small, but the cumulative effect of recent years makes it significant. So far, the medical university has lost more than $100 million in state funds, about one-third of its budget, he said.

"We've been in survival mode," Raymond said. "We're going to have to seriously consider closing programs or raising tuition."

Sanford spokesman Will Folks downplayed such concerns. He said Sanford proposes channeling more federal dollars, state Education Lottery scholarship money and other funds into higher education, which ostensibly would add $216 million to schools' total budgets.

"To say that they are losing money is an outright fallacy," Folks said.

Folks also said Sanford believes the state needs to make further cuts to higher education. The 33 public colleges and universities, operating 79 campus locations, are too many for a state South Carolina's size, he said.

Raymond said reductions in state appropriations aren't offset by these additions.

McCombs added that scholarship and financial aid money benefits colleges only indirectly.

Students can choose to use those funds at any college or university in the state, so a college's budget can't rely on those as revenue sources.

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