The Indiana University Board of Trustees approved its $4.5 million budget last week, but it will not be public for weeks. It includes reductions of about $100 million.
During the next fiscal year, the university will receive about $60 million less from the state and about $40 million less from the federal government.
A university spokesperson said the official budget may be posted in August “because of additional data finalization following Board of Trustees approval.”
A calendar from the university’s Budget Office shows the university planned to “push down” the budget to the campuses Monday; that has been delayed until June 23. At that time, a spokesperson said, campus leaders and fiscal officers will be able to view their accounts for the upcoming fiscal year.
In the trustee meeting, IU Chief Financial Officer Jason Dudich said the university had to cut about $100 million in operating expenses in 2 months.
The reductions focused “primarily on the general and designated funds, which are our most unrestricted and most flexible,” Dudich said.
“We do have a balanced budget, $4.5 billion coming in through revenue or utilization of cash, and $4.5 billion of expenses,” Dudich said.
Indiana’s General Assembly reduced line items by about 5 percent.
IU will bring in about $1.7 billion in tuition revenue — accounting for more than a third of IU’s budget. The trustees approved freezing tuition and fees for in-state undergraduate students. The university was previously criticized by Gov. Mike Braun for its tuition rates.
State appropriations will make up about 13 percent of IU’s budget. The two revenue streams combined make up about half of the budget, Dudich said.
“Of our $2.4 billion in general fund revenues, we are heavily relying on student tuition fees and state appropriations,” Dudich said. “So, planning for that 0% increase in tuition, planning for the state appropriation reductions — that is a big chunk of our projected revenue.”
After President Donald Trump took charge in January, colleges including IU were forced to adapt to shrinking funding.
“We did not want to sit idly by, so we assumed in the fiscal year ‘26 budget that there could be a $40 million loss of revenue to our general fund based on indirect cost recovery changes,” Dudich said.
IU has about 45,000 employees.
“When we look at operational efficiencies, when we look at areas to make a big impact, that is one of the first places we look,” Dudich said.
The university has allocated a 2 percent raise for staff and faculty. The year before, raises were 3 percent.
IU leaders also plan to eliminate many vacant positions
“Oftentimes, administrative and academic units will have salary reserves to address any future salary adjustments, and so we reduced or eliminated several salary reserves to be more in line with current spending versus projected spending,” Dudich said.
To cut faculty numbers, the university also offered Voluntary Retirement Incentives to those older than 65 in certain programs.
IU also made cuts to general expenses, travel and non-degree program changes across all campuses, Dudich said.
“Everyone stepped up,” Dudich said. “Again, thanks to those individuals that helped us identify where we could meet the $100 million target.”
Aubrey is our higher education reporter and a Report For America corps member. Contact her at aubmwrig@iu.edu or follow her on X @aubreymwright.
