Proposed Budget Cuts Leave Arizona Universities Reeling
Arizona’s three state universities are considering making drastic budget cuts, including shutting down campuses and eliminating degree programs, as the colleges face a 30-percent reduction in state aid — a projected loss of more than $300 million for all three public universities.
Proposed budget cuts to the state’s university system come as Arizona grapples with a $3 billion-budget deficit this fiscal year and next, reports the East Valley Tribune (“Crow: Cuts Could Close ASU Polytechnic,” Jan. 21, 2009).
If the proposed budget cuts are approved, Arizona State University could lose $320 million over the next two years and Northern Arizona University nearly $50 million, while the University of Arizona stands to lose $103 million in state funds just this year.
The schools, which have already implemented budget reductions precipitated by the economic downturn, are scrambling to find new ways to further slash their already strained budgets.
ASU is considering laying off 2,500 employees, doubling tuition, and shutting down one, or possibly two, of its campuses.
“We could eliminate the nursing school, journalism school, the law school, and the engineering school and still not meet these cuts,” said ASU President Michael Crow. “It’s hard for people to understand the scale.”
“I’m a bit shell-shocked,” said NAU President John Haeger in a university press release. “We have not even modeled a budget for cuts of this magnitude.”
Haeger says the reductions at NAU won’t be possible without fee increases, fewer class offerings, and larger class sizes, as well as work furloughs, increased workloads for employees, and possible staff layoffs.
While it is not known how University of Arizona President Robert Shelton will address cuts the university needs to make, he says the school is exploring money-generating options, including accepting a larger number of out-of-state students who pay higher tuition and fees than in-state students.
Shelton says he agrees that cuts to higher education are needed, but he maintains that the type of reductions the state legislature is asking for “are so extreme that they would absolutely cripple higher education in our state.”