Florida lawmakers have eliminated matching grants for state universities for the 2008-9 academic year, severely curtailing an incentive to attract private donations, reports the Tallahassee Democrat.

Legislators have yet to decide if the matching-grant program will be restored for the next academic year. In the meantime, Florida institutions of higher education have attracted more than $102-million that won’t be matched by the state as planned, about half of them from the University of Florida.