David Cook
FARGO (KFGO) – In a campus-wide email Tuesday, North Dakota State University President Dr. David Cook announced “incredibly difficult” budget cuts of more than $10 million through the next biennium.
Dropping enrollments is the cause of the shortfall, according to Cook, who said most of the university’s budget comes from tuition and revenue from the state funding formula which is dependent on student credit hour production (SCH).
The funding formula was created in 2013. During the 2013-2014 academic year, SCH production was over 350,000. Production has been steadily increasing, most significantly since the 2017-2018 academic year.
In 2021-2022, SCH production was just over 270,000.
“A decline in enrollment or SCH creates a tuition revenue challenge in the immediate fiscal year,” Cook said. “When our enrollment declined this fall, the reduction in tuition income and other budget issues caused a $2.9 million budget deficit.”
Because of the lower enrollment in the 2019-2021 biennium, NDSU is facing a decrease of $7.6 million during the next biennium, totalling a shortfall of $10.5 million.
Cook said the university is addressing the issue by strategically realigning resources. They have hired a consulting firm to find and recommend “cost-cutting opportunities.” Cook said many of those recommendations have already been implemented.
Despite the changes, Cook said additional adjustments will be needed.
“After a number of years of cutting, it is becoming more difficult to make reductions without impacting our core academic mission,” Cook said.
Cook did not mention layoffs, but said the university needs to acknowledge the reduction in enrollment and changing landscape of higher education.
“In essence, we need to right-size and organize our institution to meet the demands of our state and region,” Cook said.
Cook said improving student retention is one of the best ways to address the budget issues. He said efforts are underway to address the issues the university is facing.
“Please understand that I know NDSU has been living through numerous years of budget cuts, and I appreciate how difficult it has been,” Cook said. “My goal is for us to transform our operations strategically so that we can set NDSU up for future success.”
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