Dive Brief:
- Facing a $15-million budget gap, the University of Akron plans to raise tuition and fees while suspending 20 academic programs.
- Tuition and fees will increase $103 per semester, to $5,130, for undergraduates. Also, room rates will increase 6% and the cost of meal plans will increase as much as 5%.
- The university is expecting enrollment to decline in the fall by about 4%.
Dive Insight:
This is becoming a familiar story at colleges and universities across the country, and a continuing story for Akron. According to the (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, enrollment declined last fall and, in October, the Akron trustees cut $12 million from the budget. That move resulted in 18 staff being laid off and nine contract professionals and one faculty member not being renewed. And those cuts were in addition to $25.5 million in cuts for the 2013-2014 budget, with 150 positions eliminated, mostly through retirements and resignations. Of the $15 million in cuts for the latest budget, $9.1 million will be from academic operations and $5.7 million will come from administration.