The UNM Board of Regents has unanimously approved a $1.484 billion operating budget for the 2004-05 fiscal year. The total includes more than $407 million to operate the Health Sciences Center, and more than $404 million to operate University of New Mexico Hospital.
The overall budget is a 6.1 percent increase from all funding sources, including tuition increases, patient revenues, general fund appropriations and research dollars.
UNM President Louis Caldera convened a budget summit in April to discuss the overall budget picture and to take comments from interested groups. He says in this budget, the administration “tried to respond to requests from students for greater transparency.”
At the budget summit the university administration was asked to enhance funding for graduate assistants, and increase financial aid for students who could not afford tuition expenses. This budget allocates an additional $250,000 to hire graduate students, and sets aside $550,000 for need-based scholarships.
Although the university received a slightly larger proportion of overall general fund appropriations for higher education, the percentage of general fund appropriation in the budget is 17.4 percent, an historic low.
Contact: Karen Wentworth (505) 277-5627
Posted by kwentworth at June 11, 2004 10:01 AM