Budget Cuts at Utah State

Utah State University President, Stan Albrecht, said that USU will have to make several budget cuts due to the current economy.

            The US is facing unprecedented world market conditions of which USU is not exempt, said President Stan Albrecht.

            “$3.7 million will be cut for higher education this year and next year,” said Albrecht. “There will be a $1.7 million cut immediately, and $2 million cut next year.”

            The problem is, some of the money for this year has already been spend so we have to go back and see what we can take out, Albrecht said.

            A six-member budget reduction committee has been put together to develop a plan for the university to absorb these reductions.

            “Its not just state cuts to the budget we are addressing, but we also face a cut to the capital projects fund,” Albrecht said.

            Albrecht also mentioned that a lot of major financial institutions have been sending the university emails saying that they can’t finance student’s loans.

            Donors who have pledged gifts, which are used for scholarship money, are also saying that they cant meet their pledges, said Albrecht.

            We do not anticipate the number of scholarships to be cut, said Albrecht. By using the Aggie Promise Endowment, which is discretionary money to the President, we will help student that cant pay.

            The members on the budged reduction committee have been asked to look at each suggestion that comes in to find a way to make this reduction as easy as possible. There have been no decisions on cuts yet though, said Albrecht.

            We are dedicated to “minimizing the impact on quality of academic programs and impact on students,” said Albrecht.

            These cuts will not be across the board, said Albrecht. We will look at the academic implications in each area and then hold those areas harmless.

            Albrecht also said that they are constantly reviewing all programs. “Its sometimes a much more complicated issue than sometimes folks might think,” he said.

            While some people have argued that the football team should be cut to save money, Albrecht said that 25 percent of revenue for the athletic program is generated by the football team.

            “The football team has the highest potential to generate the most revenue,” Albrecht said.

            While the current budget cuts might make people apprehensive to come to school at USU, “now is exactly the time to be coming here,” said Albrecht.

            “This is one of the countries finest universities,” Albrecht said. Students pay less than a quarter of tuition compared to other schools in the west, while at the same time we are better academically.

            I have always been committed to keeping tuition increase as modest as possible, said Albrecht.