March

Budget Task Force recap

Task Force members discuss funding proposals and tuition window.

March 15, 2018

The Budget Task Force, which includes representation from students, faculty, administrators and classified staff, met March 9 and received a fiscal-year 2018-19 state budget update from Steve Kreidler, vice president for Administration and Finance. Various funding proposals for MSU Denver are being discussed and will be presented in the next few weeks to the joint budget committee of the Colorado legislature.

Additionally, there was discussion about the MSU Denver 2018-19 tuition rate, including resident and nonresident, as well as continued review of the “tuition window.” MSU Denver currently charges students taking 12 to 18 credit hours the same tuition rate. If the tuition window were closed completely, it could result in an estimated $8.5 million in additional revenue for the University. If the window were closed for 13 and 14 credit hours, it could result in an estimated $5.1 million in additional revenue. Or the University could opt to maintain the status quo and keep the current tuition-window structure.

Task-force members discussed the impact this might have on current students within the window, especially students with the highest need for financial resources. There will be more conversation about the impact in upcoming meetings.

Summer and fall enrollment looks positive, although it is still early in the enrollment cycle.

Task-force members will communicate and review the various scenarios with their constituencies to vet the idea of changes to the tuition window. After further discussions and analysis that shows the impact on our students, the committee will make a recommendation to the president on this issue. The next BTF meeting is scheduled for March 30.