Indiana University publicly posted this year’s operating budget Tuesday, more than three months after trustees approved it in June. The university previously said it would release the budget in August.
Despite losing $100 million in state and federal cuts and freezing in-state tuition, the university’s total budget grew 3 percent from last year to more than $4.5 billion, a $133 million increase.
IU mitigated that loss of funds in part by reducing employee retirement contributions and eliminating some unfilled positions. The university plans to cut an additional $100 million in spending over the year.
The official version of the budget released is not as granular as previous years, which included line items for individual departments. That makes it difficult to fully understand the extent of “deliberate and targeted reductions” passed by the Board of Trustees.
Without context, university budgets can be difficult to interpret. Funding units merge, separate and shift to such an extent that what appears to be an increase or decrease may simply reflect a change in organizational structure.
But some summary information is more clear. Total academic compensation rose across the university while employee benefits and staff compensation decreased. Funding for instruction, academic support and financial aid all went up at IU Bloomington while research and public service expenditures went down.
More stories will be forthcoming on IU’s budget.
