UConn warns of cuts to programs

Projected revenue losses range from $65M to $129M

UConn faces deep cuts in programs across the university as it confronts significant revenue losses due to the coronavirus pandemic, university administrators say.

Projected revenue losses range from $65 million to as much as $129 million if the university moves all classes online for the fall and students are not on campus.

“This is a year where we’re going to have to take a hard look at everything we do, and there may be some deep cuts needed,” Scott Jordan, UConn’s executive vice president for administration and chief financial officer, told UConn trustees this week. “And that includes academic, administrative, athletics — really everything that we do.”

With the fall semester still up in the air — UConn plans to make a final decision on whether it will be online or in-person by June 30 — officials emphasized that there are still many unknowns for the coming fiscal year.

“Every year we look at the whole university and we work our way through every department and ask every department head and dean of every college to live within their budget and reduce the programs for which there’s little demand,” Jordan said Thursday. “This year is different in that we have this event that is happening that will significantly impact the revenues.”

This past semester, after the university went online in late March, it issued over $30 million in prorated student refunds for housing, dining, and parking fees and announced a hiring and spending freeze. UConn received federal relief funds through the CARES Act, including more than $10 million designated for emergency grants to students, but even greater losses loom.

Significant financial changes may have to be made to avert long-term damage to the university — and a potential second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic could pose unforeseen challenges, officials warned Wednesday. The total UConn fiscal year 2020 budget is $1.46 billion for the Storrs and regional campuses.

“This is going to be difficult,” board chairman Dan Toscano said. “There will be pain, and there probably will be some level of disagreement along the way from our constituencies about what we’re doing.”

Jordan said that the administration has faced “continual pressure by the University Senate and some members of the faculty to look at athletics” and a fiscal working group tasked with analyzing the budget difficulties “echoed those sentiments.”

“The athletics department is working hard on some strategies that could reduce the subsidy by as much as 25 percent,” he added, referring to the funds that the university allocates to the department.

UConn Athletics said in a statement that the department was reviewing “all potential revenue- and expense-based solutions.”

Jordan that UConn was “not ready to announce any changes” to specific athletic programs or academic departments. He did note that the university’s move to the Big East Conference will mean reduced travel costs, but greater cuts will likely be needed.

For 2020-21, the estimated instate cost of attendance including tuition, fees, housing, dining is $31,092. Out of state tuition and fees comes to $53,760.

When it comes to financial aid, however, Jordan said that at least in the short-term, UConn was looking to increase funds for students, not cut them. The university recognizes that many students and their families are facing increased financial strain due to the pandemic, he said.

“We would not likely cut financial aid as part of an overall budget management program, and we do our best to meet student need, and we use federal, state, and institutional resources to do that,” he said.

Jordan also noted that student fees were being scrutinized as part of the budget analysis and “modifications” may be considered if the fall term is online, including to fees that fund student tickets to athletic games or other activities that could disappear during a distancelearning semester.

Specific cuts will likely be detailed in next month’s board of trustees meeting on June 24.

“There are no sacred cows at UConn at this time,” Jordan said. “The whole of the university needs to be looked at.”