As Governor Rick Snyder prepares to deliver his 2014 budget plan speech before the state of Michigan, he will be doing so ready to save the state money with Medicaid expansion and lower business costs.

As we all know, the state of Michigan is at a point where saving money is at a premium but what about the money we are spending? Is the money going where it needs to?

It’s easy as a college newspaper to sit back and look at the financial situation of the state and say that we deserve more money for this or that, but what do the facts say?

In the 2013 and 2014 Executive Budget released by Governor Rick Snyder and State Budget Director John E. Nixon, it stated that 75 percent of the total budget was divided between health, human services and education.

Of the entire budget, the state is giving 31 percent of its money to the educational system of Michigan. The question then is how much of that goes to GVSU?

With so many universities throughout the state, the question becomes a difficult one. Who gets what?

In the Grand Valley State University Accountablilty Report of 2012-2013, it reported that of all colleges and universities in the state of Michigan, Grand Valley is getting the least money from the government with 2,474 in 2012-2013 compared to 7,396 from Wayne State per student.

With the quick expansion that Grand Valley State has gone through in recent years, the idea the state must consider is the amount of instructional space available to students at the university.

The Accountablilty Report showed that of all the major universities in the state, Grand Valley has the second least amount of instructional space only ahead of Oakland University.

Although GVSU is still considered a baby when it comes to other universities around the state, in the past twelve years GVSU has seen the largest change in enrollment with a 54 percent increase. If that is truly the case, wouldn’t it make sense for GVSU to receive its fair share of the pie?

Couple that with the fact that 84 percent of the university’s graduates are employed within the state of Michigan and you have a university out to help improve the statewide economy.