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Flat appropriations to higher education in Gov. Paul LePage’s proposed biennial budget would assist the University of Maine in holding tuition increases at their lowest in nearly a decade and help narrow a funding gap by several million dollars.
Janet Waldron, vice president for Administration and Finance, said in a public discussion in the Wells Conference Center on March 29 that students can expect to see a 4.5 percent tuition increase in 2012 if the preliminary biennial budget is approved.
“We will be going ahead with a 4.5 percent tuition increase request,” Waldron said, adding that the proposed flat appropriation level “is a real testimony to all the hard work” by both system officials and legislators in reaching a compromise.
University of Maine System Chancellor Robert Pattenaude, in an address before the Maine state Legislature on March 30, commended moves by lawmakers and higher education officials that helped lower tuition increases.
“This year we have the smallest tuition increase in eight years,” Pattenaude said. “Affordable tuition is a key to student retention and graduation.”
In 2009 tuition increased by 9.6 percent, the culmination of a sharp upward spike in rates that began in 2004. Waldron said lower university enrollment rates during this time — down 4.1 percent over the same five-year period — were a major contributing factor to the hikes in tuition, but this trend could be coming to an end.
Waldron traced the downward trend in enrollment rates to lower high school graduation numbers across the Northeast.
“It appears we are tracking the high school demographics in the state,” she said, adding that the other New England land-grant institutions are “struggling in the same way we are with declining high school graduation rates.”
She referenced a map of the United States compiled by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education showing the projected drop in high school graduation rates from 2009-2010 to 2019-2020 nationwide. According to these statistics, Maine is facing the smallest drop at 8 percent, while Vermont could see up to 23 percent fewer high school graduates by the end of the decade.
In terms of UMaine enrollment, Waldron said these numbers could lead to 756 fewer full-time students by 2016 compared to fall of 2008. By the start of fiscal year 2012, lower enrollment rates will have amounted to losses of more than $3 million.
UMaine saw 354 fewer full-time students from 2008-10 and it is projected 2012 will see an additional 206 cut from Black Bear ranks for a total loss of 561.
“The positive news is that we are about two-thirds of the way to where we could possibly level off,” Waldron said.
Among the various campuses within the University of Maine System, UMaine carries the highest tuition. The closest campus in terms of price for in-state students is Farmington, coming in at $1,350 less than Orono in 2011.
Out-of-state students seeking a bargain would do better to look to Augusta or Presque Isle, priced in 2011 at $9,167 and $9,172 respectively.
Waldron said the higher tuition rates are “certainly for good reason because of all that we have here at the institution and [UMaine] being the land-grant research institution.”
Despite this drop in student enrollment, Waldron said the outlook for fiscal year 2012 is better than expected due to LePage’s proposed biennial budget that holds state appropriations at their current level.
Originally, the university faced a projected $8.3 million budget gap which has since been readjusted to $6 million when factoring in the biennial proposal. In order to cover this gap, the university is seeking to reallocate funds from several areas.
Several employee positions will also be either lost or reclassified in a move designed to save on expenditures. Only two employees will be laid off — one classified and one professional.
With those moves, UMaine will cut an equivalent of 22.14 full-time employee positions. Conversely, seven faculty, one professional and one classified position will be created, for a total of nine new full-time equivalent employees.
