Board approves FY27 budget with $781,000 shortfall; tuition hikes, program pauses and monthly oversight planned

The Public Universities Board of Trustees on Monday approved the FY27 operating budget, adopting a plan that leaves the university with a projected $781,000 deficit while authorizing tuition increases and targeted program pauses to reduce costs.

Interim President Pat opened the special meeting by saying “the university has been running deficit budgets for the last several years,” and urged urgency in confronting the shortfall. Pat told trustees the university is behind schedule on finalizing faculty contracts and needs an approved budget for staff to prepare for the fiscal year.

Daniel, the administration’s presenter, walked trustees through revenue and expense assumptions. “We do have an operating revenue of $47,189,000 budgeted for this fiscal year,” he said, describing a revenue picture driven principally by tuition and fees, including a 10% tuition increase approved in April and a 2% increase in resident tuition credit hours. Daniel told the board year-to-date tuition receipts were improving and that summer enrollment had nudged collections upward.

The administration built the FY27 plan around a combination of additional revenue and expense reductions. Daniel reported a planned fringe-benefits rate of 47.2%—up materially from recent years—and said total operating expenses were about 4.6% higher year over year. To control spending, staff proposed program-level pauses affecting women’s tennis, esports, the athletic band and the spirit squad; administrators said scholarships for affected student-athletes would be honored and the university would assist students who opt to transfer.

Pat and Daniel said the budget remains a work in progress. Pat said the board would see frequent updates and asked trustees to hold the administration accountable: “This budget is a work in progress…my hope is the board will talk about this budget on a monthly basis,” he said.

Trustees also discussed cash-flow risks and debt. Daniel and Pat warned that seasonal timing of tuition and appropriations can create tight cash months in June and July, and said existing debt structures limit the short-term relief that any refunding would provide because debt service is backloaded.

On a roll-call vote called by board staff, trustees approved the FY27 budget as presented; the chair announced that the budget passed, enabling staff to proceed with contracts and operational preparations for the fiscal year.

What happens next: the board authorized two standing efforts to address the shortfall: a revenue-examination workstream led by Andy Otto and an expenditure task force led by Daniel, meeting weekly to identify revenue opportunities and cost reductions. Trustees directed staff to return periodically with updated revenue and enrollment figures, refinement of the fringe and benefit estimates, and follow-up reporting on any program suspensions.

The board’s action preserves short-term continuity for operations while making clear the administration must continue working to reduce the deficit and report progress to trustees.