Gov. Chris Gregoire's goal of not raising college tuition over the next two years is not sitting well with the leaders of Washington's universities. They say the proposal fails to recognize the budget problems they face.

A decade ago, state dollars paid about 70 percent of the cost to educate an undergraduate student and tuition covered most of the rest. Those numbers have now flipped.

University of Washington President Michael Young says state government can't reverse the damage it's done to Washington's six, four-year schools just by stopping the cuts that took away half their state money and replaced most of it with higher tuition.

He and his colleagues from the state's four year colleges and universities say that by encouraging no tuition increases while not finding more money for higher education, Gregoire is leaving universities to solve their own financial problems.