State Budget Cuts and Layoffs Loom for Higher Education

John Kasich’s proposed biennium budget for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 will drop higher education funding below 2008/2009 levels.

Governor Strickland’s last budget provided $3.752 Billion for higher ed. Kasich’s latest budget provides $150 Million less.

Kasich’s first budget put pressure on schools like Bowling Green State University (BGSU) which was hit hard with a $2.8 Million (4 percent) decrease in year-over-year state funding for fiscal year 2013 while being prevented from raising tuition and fees more than 3.5 percent annually.

According to a fiscal report from BGSU, the cuts in Kasich’s first budget compared to the Strickland budget were in the double digits:

Bowling Green State University (BG campus) received approximately $90 million in State Share of Instruction (SSI) in Fiscal Year 2010 from the State of Ohio; we expect to receive $67.2 million in SSI for Fiscal Year 2013 – a decline of $23 million or 25.5 percent over the same four year period.

BGSU just announced it would be cutting 100 full time faculty positions this year.