Last modified: Wednesday, July 1, 2009
McRobbie to move quickly on tuition, budget
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 1, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Passage of a two-year state budget by the Indiana General Assembly on Tuesday has triggered the tuition- and budget-setting process for all Indiana University campuses.
IU President Michael A. McRobbie said Wednesday (July 1) he will move as rapidly as possible with a goal of bringing proposed tuition rates to the Board of Trustees in mid-July.
Indiana law requires that public universities set tuition rates for two years immediately after the state budget is adopted. Proposed tuition rates must be announced for at least 10 days prior to being voted on by the Board of Trustees. McRobbie and university officials will be meeting over the next few days to finalize tuition recommendations for each campus and prepare a formal announcement for early next week.
McRobbie said he appreciates the efforts on behalf of IU by so many legislators who helped put together the budget bill that was passed and signed into law by Gov. Mitch Daniels on Tuesday.
"Indiana University is grateful for the hard work that went into getting this budget passed," McRobbie said. "We understand that these are difficult financial times for the state, and we are grateful for the efforts of all parties involved to ensure that higher education in Indiana is adequately funded. I want to thank the members of the General Assembly and the Governor for listening to our concerns and priorities throughout this process. This budget will allow us to continue providing an excellent, affordable higher education option for the citizens of our state."
Although total state operating appropriations for IU's eight campuses were cut by 4.5 percent in fiscal year 2010 and another 1.5 percent in fiscal year 2011, lawmakers agreed to replace these cuts with a one-time allocation of federal stimulus dollars. Thus, total funding from state and federal dollars will create a net flat line at the same level as fiscal year 2009.
IU received about $600 million in state support during the 2008-09 academic year, which represented about 23 percent of its overall $2.7 billion operating budget.
Also, Indiana Innovation Alliance funding will total $10 million per year, with $3 million for expansion of the IU School of Medicine, $2 million for Purdue technology programs and $5 million for core research in the two universities.
The budget includes capital project authorizations for six projects:
- $33 million for replacement of IU Northwest's Tamarack Hall
- $33 million for the Neurosciences Building Phase II at IUPUI
- $35.7 million for the Cyber Infrastructure Building Phase II at IU Bloomington
- $22 million for an Education and Technology Building at IU Southeast
- $10 million for life sciences laboratory renovations at IU Bloomington
- $10 million for life sciences laboratory renovations at IUPUI
The budget also includes funding totaling $31.5 million over two years for repair and rehabilitation projects to existing buildings on IU's eight campuses.
