December 16, 2010

Massive Funding Cuts for Higher Ed in Governor’s 2011-13 (FY12 & FY13) Budget

The Governor released her 2011-13 Operating Budget today and it calls for major cuts across all state agencies. This is just the first budget released to address the next biennium; we will review and analyze many Legislative budget proposals during session, which starts on Monday, January 10. The Governor’s budget addresses the $5.7 billion deficit forecasted for the coming biennium.

As predicted, the Governor’s budget reduces state support for the UW over the next two years. These cuts came in several forms: budget reductions, fund shifts, and pension cuts. While some of the reductions are “back-filled” with authority to raise resident undergraduate tuition rates 11% per year over the next two years, the additional revenue from doing this and raising tuition for all other students (by commensurate amounts to current 2010-11 rates) will not make up the funding cuts in the Governor’s budget.

Please review our briefing on the Governor’s budget for more information and contact us directly with any questions.

We anticipate that the Governor’s proposal for a third and final FY 2011 Supplemental Budget will be released Friday. Information and analysis on that budget will be available Friday on this blog and on our website.