Universities Funding Study

This study addresses issues related to three university funding matters: policy initiatives or decisions packages, tuition and fees, and funding for student enrollment growth. We found that although decision packages expenditures can be tracked only to a limited degree, universities are spending the full dollar amount appropriated for programs related to decision packages, plus additional monies. We also found that while it was not possible to determine the specific expenditures that were funded from tuition and fees, more than half of the expenditures of unrestricted monies were for instruction and academic support. Finally, we found that the actual amounts the Legislature appropriated for student enrollment growth funding, while generally following changes in student population, have been less than the amounts dictated by the formula used to calculate the funding needed.