At a town hall meeting that seemed more like a State of the System address, University of Missouri System President Gary Forsee spoke at Missouri S&T on Monday about next year’s financial challenges.
“What we traded off was uncertainty,” Forsee told the crowd, referring to an agreement between public universities and Gov. Jay Nixon to hold off possibly higher budget cuts universities could face next year.
Instead, universities agreed to a deal to hold tuition for undergraduate Missouri residents frozen, in return for 95 percent of last year’s state appropriations. Forsee did state, however, fee increases were likely.
There are several issues surrounding the agreement. For instance, last year, to ensure appropriations remained flat, the General Assembly used $50 million in Stimulus funds. This year, however, Stimulus money available is half that, according to Forsee.
Added to the funding issues is gross tuition and fees were the second the largest source of revenue for the System last year. A freeze, although not applying to every student, would limit a large portion of that revenue stream.
Enrollment is another issue. The last 10 years has seen a 22 percent increase in enrollment, according to Forsee.
Rising enrollment is putting a strain on the services the System provides, especially considering the current systemwide hiring freeze is leaving positions open throughout the System.
