NORMAL - Illinois State University leaders on Friday praised student efforts to sway the General Assembly to reinstate Monetary Award Program funding this spring, but they wondered where money would come from.

"It may mean a cut somewhere else" in state higher education funding, raising the possibility of having to raise tuition to compensate, said ISU President Al Bowman. "That creates a dilemma for us."

At Friday's quarterly meeting, ISU's board of trustees also OK'd a $363.7 million internal operating budget for fiscal 2010 and approved plans to send its fiscal 2011 funding requests to the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Trustee Jay D. Bergman credited the MAP funding reversal to various Illinois higher education constituencies banding together. Lawmakers voted on Oct. 15 to fund the MAP grants for the spring semester - the same day students and others rallied at the Capitol.

That statewide effort - which brought public universities, community colleges, private schools and other groups together - made lawmakers pay attention, he said.

ISU board Chairman Michael McCuskey said getting a definitive answer to where the money will come from is "one more tall hurdle to clear in this legislative session."

Any decision on a revenue source won't be made until Jan. 1, said Bowman.

While the $200 million restored for MAP grants is important to students' lives, it's a small amount in a $58 billion state budget, he said.

The fiscal 2010 budget that was approved is nearly 5 percent more than the fiscal 2009 budget. Factoring in the one-time $5 million in federal stimulus money the state assigned to ISU this year, however, the 2009 and 2010 state appropriations for ISU remain the same.

Less than 25 percent of the money in the 2010 budget comes from the state, said Bowman.

Traditionally at the October meeting, the board votes on a salary increase for Bowman. However, this year the board and president agreed to skip the raise.

With all the economic uncertainty, it seemed prudent, said Bowman.

He said he still hopes to offer mid-year salary increases retroactive to January 2010.