Colorado Springs – The University of Colorado could cut $6.7 million from its budget if it dipped into reserves and didn’t hire as many professors next year, officials told the school’s regents Wednesday.
CU decreased its original state budget request to $38.1 million after the Colorado Commission on Higher Education asked what CU would do if state funding didn’t change from last year.
The revised budget includes possible tuition increases as high as $423 per semester for Colorado residents at the Boulder campus.
But the budget scenario is highly unlikely, CU officials said.
If Referendum C passes in November, higher education likely will receive more state funding than last year, said Rob Kohrman, assistant vice president for budget and finance. If it fails, fiscal experts predict a $493 million shortfall in the state’s budget – much of it expected to come from higher education.
“It’s a scenario that won’t happen, but what it is is a base line,” Regent Tom Lucero said.
Lucero said the higher education commission asked for different budget scenarios because of the November election. Others suspect it was because of last year’s tuition battle, which pitted the regents and former CU president Elizabeth Hoffman against the legislature and governor. Tuition for most in-state undergraduates in Boulder went up 28 percent.
“There is a rumor out there that there was less than a copacetic process last time,” CU president Hank Brown said.
Commission spokesman Jason Hopfer said the commission simply wanted schools to take a tougher look at mandatory costs and “a little more direction on the issues surrounding tuition.”
CU’s revised budget request includes about $3.3 million in money from reserves in a restricted “roll-forward” account.The largest portion of that money would go toward a new science and engineering building on the Colorado Springs campus.
The revised budget also cuts the previously requested 25 new professors in Boulder to 15.
Staff writer Jennifer Brown can be reached at 303-820-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com.
