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BOSTON -- The new state budget will allow ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù to bring a key business practice into the national mainstream and dramatically advances the cause of "straightforwardness and transparency" in billing, ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù President Marty Meehan said today, July 17, 2015

The Fiscal Year 2016 budget signed into law by Governor Charlie Baker will allow ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù, as of 2016-2017, to retain the tuition paid by resident undergraduate students, rather than passing those funds along to the state.

"I am pleased that the Governor signed what the Legislature sent to him and that the reform ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù has sought for more than two decades has become law. This is a victory for students, for ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù and for transparency," President Meehan said.

At the same time, President Meehan said he was disappointed by a veto that reduced funding for the five-campus ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù system from the $531.8 million approved by a House-Senate conference committee to $526.6 million.

"This veto presents challenges that we must now assess as we pursue our overarching goals of building quality, while at the same time protecting the University's long-term fiscal stability," President Meehan said.

In allowing ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù to retain tuition payments, the budget brings Massachusetts in line with virtually every state in the nation. In recent years, ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù was given the authority to retain the tuition paid by out-of-state students, but had been unable to extend the practice to resident undergraduate students until now.

The new policy, which will not take effect until next year, is responsive to calls from state and federal officials for greater transparency and accountability in higher education.

The tuition-retention model approved by the Governor and the Legislature was endorsed by the Higher Education Finance Commission and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and was recommended by the Saxon Commission when it created the blueprint for the five-campus ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù system in 1989.

Contact: Robert P. Connolly, 617-287-7073