The embattled head of Connecticut State Colleges and Universities faced stinging criticism – and even calls to resign – as state lawmakers grilled him about lavish spending on Tuesday.

Chancellor Terrence Cheng apologized and said the system is implementing reforms.

But he also defended the expenses, arguing they were meant to benefit students.

Cheng offered a mea culpa in his first appearance before lawmakers since two scathing audits into CSCU spending were released.

“I am extremely, extremely sorry,” he said. “Those were absolutely mistakes in that I did not take into consideration what the public perception of my actions might have been.”

Cheng oversees the sprawling CSCU system, which includes four public universities and a dozen community colleges across the state.

The reports from state Comptroller Sean Scanlon and the Auditors of Public Accounts revealed tens of thousands of dollars in questionable spending among Cheng and other leaders.

“The things we found ranged from expensive meals to livery services, to room service, to dry cleaning, to improper tickets, to events that were not school-related functions, paying for the cell phone bills and Eversource bills of students,” Scanlon said.

The comptroller’s report looked at just over 1,000 receipts and found that Cheng charged almost $23,000 in food, alcohol and hotels to his state-issued purchasing card, or “p-card.”

In addition, state auditors discovered that an accounting error overpaid the chancellor $25,000 for his housing allowance. Cheng, who earns $440,000 per year, is paying the money back $296 per paycheck until July 2026.

The bombshell reports come as students are paying higher tuition – and facing cuts in classes and faculty.

“What sort of message do you think that gives the student who’s working several jobs and trying to make ends meet?” asked state Rep. Lucy Dathan (D-Norwalk), co-chair of the General Assembly’s new Government Oversight Committee.

The chancellor acknowledged mistakes but insisted that the expenses were meant to help students.

“Trying to establish partnerships with folks that we had never done business with before,” he told lawmakers. “Partnerships that lead to internships, apprenticeships, scholarship funding.”

Cheng told lawmakers that a new p-card policy is already in place and that a new centralized auditing system will be ready by April 1.

But some lawmakers said the chancellor needs to step down.

“Trust has been shattered,” said state Rep. Seth Bronko (R-Naugatuck). “How do we move forward with you at the helm to rebuild that trust?”

It’s not just lawmakers. The Connecticut State Community College Senate Board overwhelmingly voted “no confidence” in Cheng last week.

“I don’t have the authority to decide what happens going forward, but I think you have to consider what your role is going forward,” state Rep. Steve Weir (R-Hebron) told Cheng.

Democrats stopped short of demanding the chancellor’s resignation, but raised doubts about whether he can change a “culture” of free spending within the CSCU system.

“It’s the expensive meal when Chipotle would have been fine, right? It’s the, you know, maybe the room service when going down to the restaurant would have been fine,” said state Sen. Derek Slap (D-West Hartford). “Changing the policies – that’s pretty easy stuff actually. Some of the policies are already in place, right? And they’re just being ignored.”

Gov. Ned Lamont, who ordered the comptroller's audit, has stood by Cheng, previously calling many of the expenses “small ball.”

“That stuff is a misjudgment. Not a big deal,” he told WTIC-AM on Tuesday. “He’s working hard.”

Lawmakers are considering legislation strengthening oversight at CSCU and the University of Connecticut.

“This is a system that has, to my mind, has never created the culture that we really want to see,” said state Rep. Gregg Haddad (D-Mansfield), whose district includes the main UConn Storrs campus.

The bill includes a residency requirement for leaders. Cheng lives in Westchester Co., N.Y., but maintains an apartment in Hartford.