Dive Brief:
- Facing both federal and state funding cuts, University of Minnesota officials are looking to raise tuition and cut academic program funding to balance the budget, the public institution announced last week.
- A $5.1 billion budget proposal for fiscal 2026 would raise in-state tuition prices for undergraduates and graduates by 6.5% at the university’s Rochester and flagship Twin Cities campuses, with slightly lower increases on undergraduate tuition at the Crookston, Duluth and Morris campuses.
- The proposal would slash programmatic budgets by 7%, the university said. Its board of regents is expected to act on the budget request at a meeting next Wednesday.
Dive Insight:
In a message to the university community last week, University of Minnesota President Rebecca Cunningham opened with a stark statement: “We face unprecedented challenges across higher education.”
As Cunningham noted, state funding is “uncertain and historically trending downward.” She also pointed out uncertainty in federal funding and international student enrollment under President Donald Trump and a Republican-led Congress.
The Trump administration’s federal research cuts have already led to job losses at the University of Minnesota. The institution also faces an expected 3.5% cut in state funding when adjusted for inflation.
The university’s proposed budget would address those challenges by keeping expenses aligned with anticipated revenue of $5.1 billion. It also includes a 3% merit increase for eligible employees and a pooled 1% market salary adjustment that would be distributed based on department priorities.
At the same time, university officials noted that the budget “anticipates a smaller workforce over the next two years,” though they didn’t specify how the institution would reduce its employee numbers. Past budget plans have sought to reduce headcount through natural attrition.
In her message, Cunningham signaled tighter hiring practices that prioritize “areas of key mission and strategic focus.” Details would be released in the coming weeks, she added.
She also pointed to an increased focus on raising new revenue, including through philanthropy to “bridge funding gaps for critical initiatives and support our faculty facing abrupt fiscal challenges.”
“Maintaining the status quo is not an option,” Cunningham said last week. “To ensure the University is on a path to short- and long-term financial sustainability, our response to this historic time will continue to be multifaceted.”
Gregg Goldman, University of Minnesota’s executive vice president for finance and operations, plans to give a more detailed presentation to the board of regents on Thursday. The board will also hear public comment at the meeting before deciding on the budget next week.
University of Minnesota, like some other large public institutions, has seen relatively stable enrollment in an era when private and regional public colleges are grappling with declines.
Total headcount at University of Minnesota reached nearly 70,100 students in the 2024-25 academic year, up more than 1,700 students annually. But its budget has come under strain nonetheless as funding austerity has met with rising operating costs in recent years.
Universities nationwide are facing budget and workforce cuts as they navigate funding challenges, including reductions in state money, as well as federal grant cancellations and slowdowns.
For example, Maryland’s board of regents recently voted to allow the state’s public universities to furlough employees and temporarily cut salaries as it navigates federal and state funding shortfalls. Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology plans to enroll fewer graduate students to cope with federal funding declines.
