USNH says House-approved cut in state aid 'unsustainable'

Higher education administrators said the House-approved, $50 million cut in state aid to the University System of New Hampshire (USNH) is 'unsustainable' and risks tuition rate increases that could cause enrollments to plummet.
USNH Chancellor Catherine Provencher said the cut would end six years of 'unprecedented support' from the state for the system that led last fall to the first increase in enrollment for the four-year colleges in more than a decade.
'This steep reduction is unsustainable for the university system,' Provencher told the Senate Finance Committee during a public hearing Friday afternoon.
Responding to an intense lobbying effort on behalf of USNH, House Majority Floor Leader Joe Sweeney, R-Salem, said he filed a Right-to-Know Law request asking the system to identify how many foreign students attend the four-year public colleges and how many New Hampshire residents have been denied admission.
During the presentation, Provencher and USNH board of trustees Chairman Michael J. Pilot didn't address the number of international students that attend USNH, but said for several years every New Hampshire resident who meets the minimum requirements has gained admission.
Last year, 3,000 graduates from the system remained in the state with 80% of residents taking jobs in New Hampshire.
'About 20% of non-residents stay here. We need to keep New Hampshire students because they are much more likely to stay here and drive the workforce that all our employers need,' Provencher said.
'We have capacity if more students want to apply in state and out of state, we would welcome them.'
The $50 million cut represents about a 30% reduction from the state aid in the current budget that ends June 30.
Gov. Kelly Ayotte has proposed a 4% cut in state aid which Provencher said the system could withstand.
Even with recent years of increased aid, New Hampshire continues to have the lowest level of state support for its public colleges and universities in the nation.
Provencher said for comparison purposes, the $25 million reduction would be nearly a 5% cut of the $556 million that USNH receives in revenue to support educational programs.
The rest of its budget is $221 million from room and board fees and $518 million the system receives from research grants that are '$1 in for $1 out,' Provencher said.
Similar cut in 2011
House GOP leaders argued that the system received a similar cut in state aid in 2011 for the 2012-13 state budget and recovered from that.
Provencher pointed out responding to that cut 14 years ago that the system trustees raised in-state tuition 19.5% in the first year and 13.5% in the second.
'No student would come ... if we even considered tuition increases at that level,' Provencher said. 'It would have to come, for the most part, from cuts and massive reductions.'
USNH trustees have approved a tuition increase for New Hampshire residents of up to 2.5% in the coming academic year, she said.
Both USNH officials stressed the system has undergone significant reorganization since 2019 to cope with declining numbers of available students and more competition from other schools as a result.
They have cut full-time staff by 4.5% and part-time staff by 19% while twice increasing premiums paid by employees for their health insurance, Pilot said.
Other changes include consolidating on all campus's procurement, human resources, accounting, finance and research administration.
'We have a system that is built for a market no longer available to us,' Pilot said.
The chancellor and individual college presidents are working on a plan to make further budget adjustments to eliminate the structural deficit that would grow from $13 million in the current year to $58 million by 2030.
'USNH understands the landscape, it will right size and will continue to successfully manage through these real challenges, however, a steep reduction in the state's investment will be crippling during this period,' USNH officials said in the 15-page report to Senate budget writers.
What's Next: The Senate Finance Committee has to recommend to the full Senate a two-year budget plan early next month.
Prospects: The Senate is likely to restore much of the cut the House made beyond the 4% reduction Ayotte had proposed in February.
klandrigan@unionleader.com

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