Extra Ten Percent Cut Means UM to Lose Another $10 Million, May Trigger Tuition Increase
At the end of August, the Montana Board of Regents was informed by Governor Bullocks’ office that they would need to trim an extra ten percent from the budget. According to Kevin McRae from the Commissioner of Higher Education’s Office, the cut will total millions of dollars for Montana’s universities.
"The University System's share of these new budget cuts would be about $44 million worth of state funding cuts, total; this year and next year," McRae said. "$34 million of that $44 million would come directly from the UM and MSU campuses and their affiliates."
The cuts represent about ten million dollars for the University of Montana, and if they go through, will likely lead to higher tuition next year.
"UM will either need to cut educational access and educational services by another five million each year, or if, UM just cannot reasonably reduce educational services by that amount, then next year, the board will be deciding what kind of cuts plus tuition increases will be necessary," McRae said.
The board already raised tuition at UM last May for this year and next, McRae says that a lot more information will be needed about the student population and cuts before any hard numbers are discussed concerning the possible tuition increase.