ISU Budget 101

by Anne Krapfl
Ever wanted a better handle on the university's budget, but felt too timid to dive in and try to make sense of it? Here's a quick primer on where the money comes from.


General fund
Iowa State's "general fund" budget was at a little over $407 million last July. After the $11.4 million mid-year deappropriation, it now stands at about $395.6 million. The general fund includes the units:

• General university most of us, including the colleges. (About 81 percent of the general fund supports this category.)
• Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station a research umbrella organization targeting problems in the food, agricultural and natural resource systems. (10 percent)
• Cooperative Extension most of what we know as ISU Extension. ISU Extension also receives some general university dollars. (7.5 percent)
• Institute for Physical Research and Technology a consortium of basic and applied research centers. (1 percent)
• "Special purpose" units includes the Leopold Center, Iowa Livestock Health Advisory Council, ISU Research Park and Small Business Development Center. (0.5 percent)

Restricted funds
Units of the university will receive more than $423 million in various kinds of restricted funds this year. This includes state money appropriated specifically and only for building construction or remodeling projects, federal appropriations, research funds awarded to university teams, and income generated and used by auxiliary units such as the residence department, bookstore, telecommunications, athletics and the veterinary teaching hospital. (It does not include private gifts raised by the ISU Foundation.) It's a lot of money, but as the name suggests, these funds can't be used to patch holes in the general fund budget. Combined, the general and restricted fund revenues add up to $830-plus million for the university.


The chunk that has shrunk
Now, back to the general fund, since this is the wounded one. About 64 percent of the revenue to the general fund budget is from state appropriations. And it's this chunk that has shrunk due to the state's revenue shortfall; thus current efforts to reduce Iowa State's budget for the year that begins July 1 are focusing on this piece of the pie.

Another 29 percent of general fund revenue comes in via student tuition and fees. Other sources include federal funds (3 percent), indirect costs recovered from grants and contracts, which is a majority of "other income" (3.6 percent); and sales and service income (0.1 percent).

Some categories within the general fund will be harder hit than others, based on their reliance on state funding. For example, the general university relies on state funds for about 61 percent of its budget. However, nearly 90 percent of the Experiment Station revenue is from state appropriations.