SUNY leader decries budget cuts; Interim chancellor says Spitzer spending proposal would force tuition hikes at community colleges.(Main)

Byline: MARC PARRY - Staff Writer

ALBANY - Many community colleges would likely have to raise tuition under Gov. Eliot Spitzer's budget, Interim SUNY Chancellor John Clark said Wednesday.

The spending plan Spitzer proposed last week cuts community college base aid by $50 per student, or $6.2 million, Clark testified during a legislative budget hearing. It also eliminates $1 million in operating aid for the five smallest of SUNY's 30 community colleges, Clark said.

"If the current budget is passed as is ... in all likelihood many of our community colleges would have to seek tuition increases," Clark said in an interview.

New York's …