Dukakis has called for an additional decrease of nearly $50 million in the higher education budget for fiscal year 1991, dropping the estimated level of higher education funding to about $640 million.

State legislators on Beacon Hill have yet to agree on a tax package which would resolve the present budget impasse, making it unclear whether even the governor's recommended level of funding will be achieved.

And on June 5th, the Board of Regents will announce its projected increase in the rate of tuition for the 1990-91 academic year. The tuition hike will be at least 9 percent, says Zoulas--adding that the figure could well rise into double digits.

In the long-term. Zoulas says the Board of Regents is attempting to bring total student costs under control, allowing individual schools to set tuition rates and letting the Board set a cap on total contribution.

Under this proposal, the average family contribution for student education costs--now between 20 and 30 percent--would be fixed at 30 percent for students at two-year schools and 35 percent for those at four-year institutions.

"The perception is that there are people who come from middle and upper income families who can be asked to pay a larger share of educational costs," says David S. Mundel, who headed the independent panel which suggested the plan to the Regents.

Increased tuition-waivers and scholarships for low-income students would help keep college affordable, Mundel says.

But this plan, which has not yet been approved, will not go into effect this year, state education officials say, and will likely be implemented on a gradual basis.

"It's a little like shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic," says Stone, who says a new state tax package is the only real solution. "This is kind of interesting but it doesn't address the basic problem--the state has got to start funding higher education like the future depends on it--they're not now."

Legislators like Speaker George Keverian '53 (D--Everett) and Charles F. Flaherty (D--Cambridge) continue to call education a "priority" and agree on a need for a tax package, but according to Langis there are many representatives who are still looking for places to save money.

"I think the climate on Beacon Hill right now is very anti-tax and they're looking for more things to cut," says Langis. "I wouldn't be surprised if there are even more cuts made."