The University Of Nebraska System is facing “headwinds” when looking ahead to the next year of operation.
The University Board Of Regents held a meeting today, and President Ted Carter delivered remarks about these challenges and how the university plans to address them.
“Like most institutions around the country, the University of Nebraska is facing some headwinds…Caused by inflation, enrollment challenges, and declining birth rates here in the state and across the nation. But we intend to meet those challenges head on.” said Carter.
Fiscal concerns took center stage. The regents board approved and submitted a request for a 3% funding increase for each year of the next 2 years. “We had been clear that even with that being fully funded, our request would not meet all of our needs.” said Carter. Governor Jim Pillen, formerly a member of the regents board, proposed an initial budget recommendation of a 2% increase.
A compromise on the budget was reached. This week, the Appropriations Committee voted to provide a 2.5% funding increase. Carter said, “I know the governor expects us to be smart about every dollar… and I pledge to him that we will bring a responsible budget to you at your June meeting… The university needs to be a major player in advancing his goal to grow our state and keep our economy strong.”
The last few years have presented some financial challenges to the university system. “$75 million in cuts over the last 5 years. Many business functions have already been streamlined. IT, purchasing, facilities, we’ll look for more efficiencies… But I’ll tell you, there’s not a lot of low-hanging fruit left.” said Carter. He later said, “We’re not going to simply grow our way out of these fiscal challenges. So we’re going to have to be innovative about how we attract and retain students and how we make them successful… we’re going to be using technology to create access for our students. We need more of that in order to meet the significant workforce needs of our state.”
Despite these intimidating issues, President Carter portrayed confidence that the university system will adapt. “We’re gonna have to view challenges as opportunities.”
On the idea that these fiscal problems could be addressed by an increase in tuition costs for students, Carter said, “I’ve been really, really clear-eyed on this since the day I got here… We are not going to balance our budget on the backs of our students… Our student regents who did an outstanding job testifying to the Committee, all spoke to the importance of our affordability. We want to make sure that we remain one of the best values in our peer group.”