Ball State University officials are looking at solutions to state funding cuts for higher education after the Indiana Commission for Higher Education sent Gov. Mitch Daniels their recommendations for the cuts Tuesday.
Ball State faces a $15.2 million decrease, a 5.5 percent reduction over the next 18 months.
Randy Howard, vice president for Business Affairs, said it's too early to say exactly what will be cut from within Ball State.
"It's a large number – a substantial number – and it will require some significant cuts," Howard said. "Our approach is to look at everything."
Howard said he hopes the campus community can contribute ideas; however, administrators would make sure to not impact two specific areas: the educational experience of students and the university's Strategic Plan, which champions immersive learning opportunities.
January will be an exploratory phase as university officials come up with ideas on how to implement the cuts. Howard said they hope to have an initial series of recommendations by early March.
The commission met with university officials over the past two weeks. Instead of a standardized cut, the seven state universities received varying reductions in their funding.
Indiana University will see the largest cut in pure dollars — $58.9 million over two years, which amounts to a 5.8 percent reduction. Purdue University will lose $45.5 million, a 6.1 percent reduction.
Indiana State University has the highest percentage of cuts with a 6.65 percent drop in state funding, which amounts to $10.5 million. On the other end of the spectrum, Ivy Tech Community College will lose $12 million, but face a lower 3.6 percent overall reduction.
Additionally, Vincennes will lose $4.06 million, a 5.1 percent reduction, and the University of Southern Indiana will lose $3.9 million, a 4.7 percent reduction.
When deciding how much to trim off each university's budget, three areas determined the recommended cuts: the money received per student from the state, the number of students completing degrees and the availability of federal stimulus dollars.
On Dec. 4, Gov. Daniels said state colleges and universities would face $150 million in funding cuts – about 6 percent – to their general fund appropriations and stimulus money over the remaining months in the budget cycle in response to lower than expected state revenues.
Revenue collections were $475 million below budget for the first five months of the fiscal year, which started in July. Indiana's total collections have been below expectations for 14 consecutive months.
In a letter to Gov. Daniels, Commissioner for Higher Education Teresa Lubbers said that tuition increases are not expected based on the commission's meetings with university officials.
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