University of Minnesota Wants $97.5 Million From the State Due to Tuition Shortfall
“Without an increase to our base appropriation in that amount, it would mean significant budget cuts and tuition rate increases, more than we are already contemplating”
Why does the state have to shoulder this burden? Can’t the school cut costs?
The Star Tribune reports:
University of Minnesota seeking $97.5 million more from state for tuition shortfall, proposed freeze
The University of Minnesota is asking state lawmakers for an additional $97.5 million over the next two years largely to cover an unexpectedly large drop in enrollment and a proposed tuition freeze.
The biggest portion of that funding — about $48 million — would help cover a tuition shortfall that Julie Tonneson, the U’s budget director, said was unlike any she had seen in her 30 years working for the system.
“Without an increase to our base appropriation in that amount, it would mean significant budget cuts and tuition rate increases, more than we are already contemplating,” she told the Board of Regents in a meeting Friday morning.
With the new request, the university now is seeking nearly $1.7 billion from the Legislature to cover its general operations over the next two years. That’s in addition to the $950 million it is seeking from the state to acquire its teaching hospitals amid a proposed merger of Fairview Health Services and South Dakota-based Sanford Health.
The request comes at a time when lawmakers are preparing to enter a new phase of budget negotiations. At a committee meeting Tuesday, university officials faced sharp questions from legislators who wondered why the U’s projections had been so far off and why administrators hadn’t given them additional details to properly vet the request.
“There is a big difference between a need and a want, and right now there is a crisis situation here, with declining enrollment,” said Rep. Gene Pelowksi, DFL-Winona, who chairs the House Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee and has asked the U to submit additional data to support its request.
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Comments
The University of Minnesota appears to have hundreds of staff seeded throughout all their campuses and programs and schools whose entire focus is DEI..,,,say we start there shall we
About time people began to wise up. Universities have been running quite a scam for some time now, increasing tuition at will, knowing students have easy access to federal school loans, and cheerfully using the money to pay themselves more. The sheer size of this “request,” coupled with additional demands for planned health care acquisitions, proves these people have no legitimate accounting background. Minnesota voters should rebel.
Seems to me that if you have fewer students, you need fewer teachers and administrators. Maybe it’s time to reconsider some of the departments and majors …
The usual approach is to cut faculty and eliminate majors, but reshuffle administrators to other jobs. Then the administrators get a raise. Rinse, repeat.
As a very embarrassed U of M grad school alum, I say let them starve.