University of Minnesota faculty and students fear budget cuts and tuition hikes will reduce staffing and enrollment
The University of Minnesota’s proposed 7% reduction of academic programs and steep tuition hike have raised fears they will lead to fewer instructors and students who can afford to attend the school.
“It’s really upsetting when we see students priced out of a college education,” said Riley Hetland, an incoming junior.
On Friday, officials announced the budget cuts and a 6.5% tuition jump for undergraduate, in-state students on the Twin Cities and Rochester campuses — the biggest increase in 14 years for Twin Cities students.
U leaders pointed to the anticipated flat funding from the state and declining federal support for research .
“There’s a potential for a kind of spiral effect from this,” said Travis Workman, chair of the Asian and Middle Eastern Studies department, adding that it could reduce enrollment at the College of Liberal Arts.
He said they’ll have to cut their budget for non-tenure track class instructors by 19% over two years, reducing the number of teaching assistants and adjunct faculty, and consider closing language programs or “making other drastic decisions,” he said.
The $5.1 billion budget proposal, which balances the budget, includes a 4% bump in faculty and staff compensation, though most of the compensation increases would be merit-based rather than across-the-board.
The deans of schools and colleges — such as the College of Biological Sciences or the College of Liberal Arts — were in charge of making the 7% cuts to academic programs, said Gregg Goldman, the U’s executive vice president for finance and operations, adding that they did a “phenomenal job.”
“We can’t be a university that tries to do everything,” he said. “You’ll be good at a lot of things and great at nothing.”
He said the effort to make academic cuts started “long before” the recent “existential crisis” in American higher education.
Nathaniel Mills, an English professor and the department’s incoming chair, said academic departments have been asked to come up with 10% reductions in instructional budgets both this year and next, which will result in high-quality teaching faculty being let go along with program closures and fewer classes for students.
“At a time of financial precarity, the president has apparently decided to focus budget cuts on what the university does best: teach students,” Mills said in an email. “It is frustrating that U leadership apparently does not see our educational mission, or supporting the faculty who carry out that mission, as strategic priorities.”
Ruth Shaw, a professor in the ecology, evolution and behavior department, said given the current, previously unimaginable circumstances in higher education, it may be time to rethink aspects of the U’s existing strategic plan.
“Is the time to move forward on all its components, given that they will clearly be implemented by reining in core functions of the university?” she said in an email, adding that she especially questions budget cuts to instruction.
Several faculty members raised questions about the amount of money in the U’s proposed budget dedicated to administrative costs.
The budget proposal raises tuition while draining academic resources, Michael Gallope, a professor of cultural studies and comparative literature, said in an email.
“It transfers way too much money to administrative excess — branding, marketing and the vague jargon of ‘strategic investments,’" he said.
He said he hoped the Board of Regents would ask Cunningham to focus her budget on classroom instruction, job security for those without tenure and top-notch research.
Richard Painter, a professor at the U’s Law School, said he’s also concerned about high administrative costs, along with generally wasteful spending at the U. There are too many centers, programs and institutes, he said.
He said the U’s tuition hike is more than many families can afford, adding that there’s a limited amount of financial aid to support students from families making between $80,000 and $120,000.
“I think they’re already having trouble sending their kids to college,” he said. “This is a betrayal of the purpose of higher education.”
Hetland, who will be the student body president in July, said tuition increases over 5% just mean more students won’t be able to afford a degree.
“It’s not only those students missing out, it’s also [hurting] the students who would be in those classrooms with them,” said Hetland, who is majoring in environmental sciences, policy and management.
A public forum will be held Thursday so people can comment on the proposed budget. The Board of Regents will vote on it June 18.
Last year’s $5 billion budget increased salaries for some employees, cut budgets in some parts of the university and increased tuition by 1.5% to 4.5% across the five U campuses.
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