UT to lose $19 M in state funding for fiscal year 2012

Students at UT and all across Ohio looking to further their education next fall may want to brace themselves for a possible tuition increase due to a 10.5 percent cut in state funding to universities.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich revealed his two-year budget plan for the state last week. In the new budget, spending for state universities has been reduced by millions of dollars as Ohio prepares for statewide cuts.

Schools across the state have been bracing for cuts to Ohio’s $55.5 billion budget for months as the state tries to reign in deficits and reduce spending, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

UT expects a $19 million cut in state funding from its $800 million budget for Fiscal Year 2012.

The $800 million budget covers expenses for Main Campus, the Health Science Campus and the hospital.

The good news for students: Kasich put a cap on tuition increases at 3.5 percent.

“We’re going to try and keep [tuition increases] as low as possible,” said Larry Burns, vice president for external affairs and interim vice president for equity and diversity.

Burns said a 3.5 percent tuition increase would only happen in a “worst-case scenario.”

The budget calls for universities to transition 10 percent of their undergraduate programs into a three-year timeline by 2012 and 60 percent of their programs by 2014, according to a press release.

This means students will be able to receive their undergraduate degree in three years instead of four.

The budget also calls for the Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents to make it possible for universities to obtain charter status.

This would allow schools to face less state regulations but will allow for less in state subsidies.

Burns said UT administrators were not surprised by Kasich’s harsh cut to education.

“We have been working on the budget for many months now,” he said “The 2012 fiscal year starts on July 1.”

Burns also said the state has slashed the primary subsidy for undergraduate tuition by about 13 percent.

“But the light at the end of the tunnel will be a 3.7 percent increase in funding for 2013,” Burns said. “We just have to weather 2012.”

Burns also said much of the budget cuts were inspired by the size of universities, the size of their overall budgets and student enrollment.

“From [the budget] standpoint, UT is the third largest university in Ohio, behind Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati,” Burns said.

Burns remains confident that the recent budget cuts will not affect academic services at UT.

“Two of the most important things we always try to avoid are raising tuition and laying employees off,” he said. “Currently, we have been reducing our workforce by attrition. Each job is thoroughly evaluated before it is filled.”

Burns said UT will continue to “attract the best talent and pay competitive wages.”

“At this point, academic services are not going to be touched,” he said.

Although not all of the details have been worked out yet, Burns believes UT students and faculty will have a better idea of what to expect in upcoming weeks.

“The administration now knows more than we did at the beginning of the week, so we will have something to present to the board of trustees in May,” he said.