Wednesday morning, the University of Connecticut Board of Trustees (BoT) approved the 2022 fiscal year spending plan for all UConn campuses and UConn Health.
The BoT also approved increases to the Student Health and Wellness (SHaW) Fee, transit fee and student activity fee.
The budget will be $1,609.2 billion for Storrs and regional campuses, with nearly 30% of revenue coming from tuition and 26% from state block grants and state fringe benefits and adjustments, according to the BoT presentation. The budget this fiscal year, despite the structural deficit, will be balanced because of federal COVID-19 relief support to Connecticut and departmental budget cuts.
According to the resolution for the vote on the UConn Storrs and regions campuses operating budget, residential housing capacity is anticipated to be between 80 and 90% full, with about 93% of undergraduate classes taught in person and staff back on campus.
Fiscal year 2022’s capital budget consists of 61% providing funding for active construction projects, and the remaining 39% for planning and design. The largest project will be the STEM Science 1 Building, but a large portion is also going to areas such as the new ice hockey rink, academic renovations, and facilities repairs, according to the presentation
Most student fees have stayed flat, but there will be an increase of $4 per semester for the transit fee in order to fund the U-Pass.
An annual increase of $56 will be applied to the student health services fee in an effort to bolster mental health services with additional case workers and clinicians.
The student activity fee will increase by $2 annually, with its main goal to cover production of the Nutmeg Yearbook.
UConn Health’s budget will be 1,398.7 billion, with an estimated state support of $339.2 million. In fiscal year 2021, they had a projected deficit of $114.9 million, including $53.8 million from unfunded legacy costs and $61.1 million from COVID-19 related losses. Due to a need to add in revenue, the BoT approved a tuition increase of 3.5% to the School of Medicine and the School of Dental Medicine with no increase in salaries.