As the academic year draws to a close, the University of New Hampshire is staring down an anticipated budget cut of $15 million to $20 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year. Although the final say on compiling this budget will ultimately fall to UNH President Elizabeth Chilton, Vice President for Finance and Administration Aaron Howell, and Interim Provost Cyndee Gruden, they have sought input from the university’s deans and department heads, who have been in the process of drafting up and submitting budget proposals to locate areas where spending could be reduced. By the end of May, the completed budget must be submitted to the University System of New Hampshire (USNH) for approval by its board of trustees.
In an email to the UNH community April 23, President Chilton gave a brief update on this ongoing process: “These proposals appear to address much, but not yet all, of the anticipated budget goal identified earlier this year. Unit leaders are continuing to work with the finance team to refine their plans so we can develop accurate, updated projections and take additional steps to ensure our planned expenses are aligned with anticipated revenues,” Chilton said. Further information about UNH’s upcoming budget will likely be shared in May, according to President Chilton. Although Chilton has expressed “want(ing) to preserve the undergraduate academic experience,” the potential effect of these cuts on the academic experience remains unknown.
Why $15 million to $20 million?
These budget cuts, roughly 3.5% of UNH’s general fund budget, are an attempt by UNH to fix its current structural deficit, according to UNH spokesperson Tania De-Luzuriaga. This deficit is a product of the university’s revenues not being enough to cover its expenses. The situation is further complicated by the 1% operating margin required by the USNH board of trustees. In UNH’s case, this means that they need their revenues to be 1% greater than their expenses, so that they will have money left over in the event of any unexpected expenses that may emerge during the fiscal year, such as rising employee health care premiums. Additionally, to help partially reduce the deficit, UNH plans to increase student tuition and fees.
How is this different from previous years?
According to DeLuzuriaga, these upcoming budget cuts are being handled differently than last January’s $11 million cut, which was overseen by former UNH President James Dean and occurred during the middle of the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Whereas the $11 million reduction was “an across-the-board 4% cut for all colleges and departments,” these upcoming cuts will likely “vary across colleges and departments,” DeLuzuriaga wrote. Additionally, UNH hired Aaron Howell as the vice president for finance and administration, a new position with a job similar to that of a chief financial officer (CFO).
Prior to Howell’s hiring, UNH had been reliant on two interim CFOs after the previous one left the university in 2023.
State funding
Currently, USNH receives $96 million in funding from the State of New Hampshire, according to MJ Condon, UNH’s undergraduate USNH board representative. For this upcoming year, Gov. Kelly Ayotte proposed a cut to the university system, which would reduce this state funding down to approximately $91 million. According to Condon, UNH’s budget cut projection of $15 million to $20 million took Ayotte’s reduction into account. However, since then, lawmakers in the New Hampshire House of Representatives have sought to reduce USNH’s state funding even more by proposing a 30% cut to the system, which would leave USNH with approximately $67.2 million in state funding for the upcoming fiscal year. While the bill containing this cut has passed through the House, it must still pass through the NH Senate, which won’t complete its version of the state budget until June.
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