LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - The University of Nebraska is proposing a tuition increase, cuts to its operating budget and the elimination of more than 100 jobs to compensate for a state revenue shortfall, President Hank Bounds said Tuesday.
Bounds outlined the plan that he will submit to the university’s Board of Regents on Thursday. The cuts come in response to a reduction in state funding.
The proposal includes a $10 to $12 increase per credit hour for a typical in-state undergraduate student, followed by another increase of $6 to 7.50 per hour the following year. For most students, the change will mean a 5.4 percent increase in tuition in year one and a 3.2 percent increase the following year.
Bounds said the university will try to cut jobs through attrition and plans to cut up to $30 million from its operations budget. Administrators tried to avoid cuts that would harm academic programs, he said.
Bounds said it’s too early to know what specific areas will see cuts, but teams have been working to find reductions in human resources, facilities management, public relations and other departments.
“I think this is a prudent budget that really reflects a period of fiscal stress,” Bounds said. “But I think we’re handling it in an appropriate way.”
The university had sought $583 million a year in state support for each of the next two school years - the amount it received for the current school year. But lawmakers and the governor approved $570 million for the 2017-18 school year and $580 million for 2018-19.
Bounds said need-based aid will grow to help students who would be hurt most by tuition increases, but he warned that the university will fall farther behind its peers in offering competitive salaries for faculty. The university will also forego major investments in programs it considers important to the economy. Recent examples include spending on water programs, engineering and cancer research.
“In my view, now more than ever, this state needs the university to grow,” Bounds said.
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