As the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents wrapped up their two-day-long meeting sessions Thursday and Friday, a plethora of discussions circulated regarding the Board’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year, including the potential for a sixth straight year of tuition hikes for University students.

The proposed budget includes a 3.8% tuition increase for resident undergraduate students across all campuses – with non-resident undergraduate students on the Twin Cities campus facing up to 4.5%, according to a Finance & Operations docket.

If passed, this will be the sixth consecutive year that students will face tuition increases at the University, according to the University’s Institutional Data and Research. The increase is projected to create a revenue stream of $34.4 million across the University system. 

During Thursday’s discussion, University President Rebecca Cunningham said the University may have to make cuts alongside the tuition increase. She said she is aware of the potential stress University community members are voicing. 

“I’m deeply aware and sympathetic of this belt-tightening, which is what the state is asking us to do essentially when we don’t have an increase [of funding],” Cunningham said. “It is stressful to our faculty and staff who are striving to provide great education — but we have to prioritize.”

Cunningham said, alongside other administrative officials, the recurring decision to increase tuition has been a difficult but necessary step to take.

“We simply have to make the math work,” Cunningham said. “It will take all of us working together.”

During the meeting, various administrators cited state funding concerns and rising inflation rates as the primary reasons behind the tuition hike. However, this claim is facing scrutiny from community advocates.

The regents accepted in-person public commentary during a public forum portion of a meeting on June 12, in which several University community members spoke, notably including retired professors, faculty, staff and students.

University English professor Eric Daigre shared his frustrations during the forum. Daigre said he is concerned the proposed budget will hurt the University’s mission, as money could be moved away from essential University programs. 

“There’s more than one way to balance a budget,” Daigre said. “My concern is that we’re balancing the budget by defunding the actual educational mission of the University: education and research.”

Daigre criticized the disproportionate salaries paid to various administrative officials, suggesting that these funds be put towards faculty and students who are actively struggling with academic financing.

In addition to the increase in tuition, many are concerned about the projected budget cuts and how they will impact students, faculty and staff. Community members questioned both the tuition increase and budget cuts, urging regents to think about the detrimental effects departments will see as a result of these cuts.

Fae Hodges, a student in the College of Education and Human Development, said that while the proposed budget information states why the cuts are being made, it fails to put into perspective how much of a detriment will be seen as a result.

“I, and many other students, are paying increasingly more each year for the quality of our education to be worsening,” Hodges said. “Not due to our professors or TAs, who work increasingly hard for less money, but because the funds are dwindling at the department level.”

Hodges spoke to the effects they have seen during their time on campus, such as larger class sizes with slower grading feedback due to the decreased number of teaching assistants and a departmental funding deficit.

The Board is expected to vote on the finalization of the budget on June 26, and virtual commentary is being accepted via the Board’s Virtual Forum until 10:00 a.m. on June 25.