Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders proposed a more than $2.4 million budget cut for higher education in her general revenue budget in March, which would lead to reductions in the general revenue allocations of most of the state’s four-year public colleges and universities starting in fiscal year 2025, which starts July 1.
According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, UCA saw a $892,398 decrease to $56 million.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, was the only four-year state university in the budget proposal that saw a funding increase, which was a $387,468 increase to $134.1 million.
Arkansas Tech University saw a $741,960 decrease to $36.3 million, and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock saw a $539,714 decrease to $60 million.
Director of Media Relations Fredricka Sharkey said, “In 2018, UCA launched an initiative that we label ROI, Resource Optimization Initiative, that served as a vehicle to place a name and function to every dollar in our budget and make multi-year decisions with a mindset on the future of the institution and the challenges coming to higher education several years down the line.”
She said, “One of the primary drivers of ROI is to build upon budgeted reserves to allow careful planning and account for fluctuations in any year through fiscal year 2028.
“ROI also requires forecasting of formula distributions from the state so that we are predicting and preparing for positive and negative trends — but always prepared.”
Sharkey said, “This fiscal year 2025 distribution is part of that expected trendline that forms part of the foundation of ROI. If the funding were to be restored, we would incorporate it into our reserve plans for the next three cycles.”
Sanders’ proposed budget would increase the Children’s Education Freedom Account’s budget, which funds vouchers for private and parochial K-12 schools, by $65.7 million to 97.5 million and increase the public school fund by $38.2 million to $2.48 billion.
According to the Southwest Times Record, Herschel Hartford, president of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Education Association, said the funding cuts are part of a pattern of programs and departments being shut down because they are “not profitable.”
April Reisma, president of the Arkansas Education Association, told the Southwest Times Record that the state has been running a budget surplus for several years, which could be used to expand funding for education.
“Taking budget cuts from higher ed instead of using the surplus to help higher ed to be more effective is just a gut punch,” she said. “It’s a slap in the face.”
Sanders said in a letter to the General Assembly’s Joint Budget Committee, “I am proud that this year’s budget puts an end to government’s spiraling growth while still fulfilling the priorities Arkansans elected me to implement.”