NMU forum on budget & other issues
A community forum at Northern Michigan University this afternoon covered a variety of topics, including the budget.
Governor Rick Snyder has proposed a roughly 2% budget increase for the state’s Public 15 universities next fiscal year.
It’s the second straight year with a proposed increase, but that’s not enough to make up for a significant drop in funding in fiscal 2012.
NMU President David Haynes says any increase is helpful, since the level of support coming from the state has declined significantly over the last 20 years or so.
He says one-fourth to one-third of NMU’s revenue each year comes from the state, while the other two-thirds to three-fourths comes from student tuition, student fees and donors.
It was once the other way around, with the vast majority of university revenue coming from the state.
Haynes says he intends to hold one of these community events every month through at least June; Snyder has set an intended budget deadline of June 1st.
An update on enrollment revealed that 38% of the incoming freshmen admitted to NMU this past fall ended up enrolling there.
That’s higher than average for an American college or university.