The University will lobby for additional funding from the state legislature to combat Gov. Robert P. Casey's budget proposal, which would freeze state aid to the University.

"We're hoping we can convince the legislature to make additional allocations," said University President Joab Thomas.

The University will try to gain legislative support during the next few months, Thomas said, adding that the University lobbies for state aid throughout the year.

If the University does not receive more funding, it will raise tuition more than the expected 6 percent for the 1991-1992 fiscal year, Thomas said in a prepared statement.

Casey's budget announcement is only the first stage of the budget negotiations, said Charles Hosler, University acting vice president and provost.

"We have to wait and see and hope for the best," Hosler said.

It is still early to predict a tuition increase, Thomas said. But Hosler said the funding freeze makes a tuition increase more likely.

The spending freeze will keep the University from instituting any new programs or making improvements on already established programs, Hosler said. Also, as inflation increases and the state appropriation remains the same, the University may run into further financial problems, Hosler said.

Casey asked in his budget proposal yesterday that funding for state run and state related universities remain the same as the 1990-91 fiscal year. The funds cut last month -- amounting to 5 percent of the University's funding -- will be restored next year.

Casey also proposed eliminating the Tuition Challenge Program. The program would give money to universities that kept tuition at a certain level, said Steve Garban, senior vice president for finance and operations. The funds already in the program were included in the University's funding for next year, Garban said.

Funding for two projects have been cut from the 1991-92 budget. The budget proposes a reduction of $2 million for agricultural research and $250,000 for psychiatric education at the University's Hershey Medical Center.

The funding for those projects was approved by the state legislature last year, Hosler said. Hosler said the legislators who passed the funding last year may push for putting the projects back in the budget.