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News Release

Last modified: Thursday, May 3, 2012

IU Trustees approve lean budget for 2012-13

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 4, 2012

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University Board of Trustees has approved a 2012-13 budget that calls for increasing spending by $30.3 million, or 1.5 percent.

Neil Theobald, senior vice president and chief financial officer, told trustees that IU President Michael A. McRobbie directed him to focus spending on maintaining affordable excellence on each IU campus. Thus, nearly two-thirds of new revenue ($19.8 million) is used to provide merit-based salary increases that average from 1.5 percent to 2.2 percent across IU campuses. Additional financial aid grants comprised more than 10 percent of the new spending, or $3.9 million.

Theobald also reported that campuses plan to use one-time funds in 2012-13 to address $68 million in deferred maintenance projects that have built up over the past decade or more. IU's deferred maintenance backlog is estimated at $600 million.

Overall, the budget calls for spending $3 billion on eight IU campuses. The largest growth in spending (10.4 percent) will be to support medical service delivery by IU School of Medicine physicians. The largest drop in spending (2 percent to 3 percent) will be in funded research as federal stimulus grants expire.

In May 2011, IU Trustees approved tuition and fee rates for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years, including a 3.5 percent tuition increase for in-state undergraduate students on the Bloomington campus and a 2.5 percent increase for in-state undergraduate students at all other campuses. Rate increases for out-of-state students varied from campus to campus but were generally higher. In addition, the board approved a temporary repair and rehabilitation fee that will vary from $120 to $360 per student to help cover the cost of necessary repair work and ongoing maintenance for IU's 900 buildings and associated infrastructure.

Theobald noted that the increase in spending in the 2012-13 budget is less than the nation's current inflation rate, which was last reported at 2.7 percent in March 2012.

Theobald also said that as a result of additional cost reduction strategies carried out in recent months, IU employs 230 fewer staff members than it did a year ago. Cost control will continue to be a focus in 2012-13, with initiatives focused on accounts receivable processing and expansion of public-private partnerships on IU campuses. Additionally, the university will conduct a fourth round of cost benchmarking studies in 2012-13.

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