July 29, 2010

FY11 final budget statements provided to campus units

by Anne Krapfl

Revenue increases from tuition and indirect costs associated with sponsored research, and expense decreases for personnel and utilities highlight the university's budget for FY11, which began July 1. Executive vice president and provost Elizabeth Hoffman summarized the budget in a July 23 memo (PDF) to ISU leaders. All of Hoffman's memos on the budget development process are online for the campus community to view.

Revenues

Tuition increases this year (6 percent for Iowa residents; 4.1 percent for non-Iowans) will bring in a projected $26.6 million additional dollars. This is based on March enrollment estimates provided by the registrar's office.

Centrally funded student financial aid (set aside from tuition revenues) will increase almost $6.4 million this year, to help address enrollment and tuition increases and a growing demand for need-based aid. Tuition revenue is expected to add up to $252.9 million in the FY11 budget.

A jump in sponsored research awards in the past year translates to an additional $1.14 million in projected income from indirect costs this year.

State support to Iowa State, including the general university and several research and service functions that receive a targeted appropriation, will total $228.1 million this year, down from $245.3 million on July 1, 2009. The reduction includes $11.3 million to the general university budget and a combined $5.9 million to eight direct-appropriation units or services such as the Agriculture Experiment Station, Leopold Center, Small Business Development Center and the Vet Diagnostic Lab.

Expenses

About 60 percent ($325.7 million) of the FY11 general fund budget will be used for salaries and benefits. This figure is down from the budget a year ago, due to several factors:

  • Personnel changes, including retirements, early retirements and position eliminations
  • Internal reallocations made to fund required salary increases this year -- such as faculty promotions, annual merit increases and about 55 salary increases needed to implement the new P&S compensation structure on July 1
  • Projected cost increases of medical and dental insurance

Budget leaders also expect utility costs for the general fund to be about $1.6 million less than what was budgeted a year ago. Separate budget summaries were sent to the various college and vice president-level units to supplement Hoffman's memo.