Gov. Corbett toured a Malvern factory powered by state-of-the-art robotics Tuesday, then hit the automatic-reset button on a replay of the state university tuition wars that dominated the battle over his first budget proposal last year.

Corbett insisted to reporters during his tour of the high-tech Siemens Medical Solutions plant that his 2012-13 plan for a steep new cuts in state aid to higher education - including 30 percent less money to state-backed schools such as Pennsylvania State and Temple Universities - could be dealt with by reducing campus operating costs, not by raising tuition.

"It's incumbent upon the people of Pennsylvania to call on [these colleges] to control the cost of education," he said.

The governor's proposed $27.1 billion budget calls for no tax increases, deep cuts to higher education, and a range of cost-saving measures in services for the poor, elderly, and disabled.

"A lot of people are upset at spending at that level, but that's all the money that we have," he said, reiterating his vow not to raise taxes.

Perhaps the most glaring cuts are a proposed reduction of about $230 million, or an average of 25 percent, for state universities. The cuts affect not only Penn State and Temple, but also the University of Pittsburgh and the State System of Higher Education, which governs 14 state colleges and universities, including West Chester and Cheyney.

A year ago, the schools' funding was cut almost 20 percent.