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Proposed cuts to Tennessee’s state budget may force higher education officials to renege on a commitment to keep tuition increases in the single digits, university officials say.

“Earlier in the year we made a commitment that we could keep it under double digits,” said Hank Dye, vice president for public and government relations for the University of Tennessee system. “This is a whole different circumstance. Our goal is to keep it as low as we can.”

The proposed cuts to the higher-education budget are not unexpected, and officials at the Tennessee Board of Regents and the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees said they plan to minimize the impact on students and tuition by making cuts in other places.

Tuition increases at Board of Regents and University of Tennessee System schools will be decided at the bodies’ June meetings.

Earlier this year, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission recommended that tuition be increased by 5 percent to 7 percent at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, but Gov. Bredesen’s announcement could change that, said Richard Brown, UTC’s vice chancellor for finance and operation.

UTC received $46 million in base state appropriations last year and will receive much less this year, Mr. Brown said. Along with increasing tuition, the university may not fill vacant faculty positions and will look at cutting equipment and travel costs, he said.

In order to keep up with inflation and increased operating costs, tuition has jumped 90 percent at UTC in the past eight years, and other universities have seen similar increases, according to a report by the UT Board of Trustees. A full-time, undergraduate, in-state student pays $1,986 in tuition per semester plus fees.

Before the projected state budget shortfall, the higher-ed commission did not propose a tuition increase at two-year colleges such as Chattanooga State Technical Community College. But at the March meeting of the Board of Regents, officials said tuition at Chattanooga State could increase 7 percent to 9 percent. It is unknown whether that number will increase, said Board of Regents Chancellor Charles Manning.

“It is kind of what we expected,” said Dr. Manning. “This won’t just be passed on to students.”

A $55 million cut is not better or worse than expected, Dr. Manning said. With the budget shortfall the state faces, there was no way to solve problems without cutting higher education, he said.

While budget cuts will put an increased burden on institutions to maintain the same quality of education with less funding, Dr. Manning said, he is glad Gov. Bredesen is proposing to cut a dollar amount rather than requesting cuts in specific areas.

Mr. Dye said schools at least will have discretion as to how to make up for lost funds. Colleges and universities are expected to manage costs, he said, and the UT system office has asked chancellors of institutions for their opinions on how to deal with reduced resources.

“These are difficult times, and everyone has to work together,” he said. “We want to study everything and move everything the best we can to minimize impact.”

With all the bad news about cuts and the rising cost of higher education, a college education in Tennessee still is a good deal, Mr. Dye said. Tuition is low compared with peer institutions, and the HOPE scholarship has opened doors for many students, he said.