The state with the nation’s oldest median age
In the past few years, many other public colleges have picked up the pieces from the recession, benefiting as state budget pictures have improved. They also have poached other states’ students and built revenue streams online or with new programs.
But the University of Maine System is in a worse position than ever before. Enrollment across its seven campuses has fallen by double digits in the past decade, and population projections remain grim in the state with the nation’s oldest median age.
The relatively small system is staring down a projected annual budget deficit of $90 million by the 2019-2020 academic year as costs keep rising, tuition remains frozen and faculty oppose cuts to academic programs. Six of the seven schools started fiscal 2015 in the red, and administrators have looked at selling real estate.
“If we do not make fundamental changes, we’re just not going to survive long term,” said Rebecca Wyke, vice chancellor for administration and finance at the University of Maine System. She had to pull more than $11 million from reserves, and reduce budgeting for depreciation, to balance a $515 million budget for this year.
State Rep. Ben Chipman, a Portland independent, introduced a bill in the last legislative session calling for a complete analysis of the system’s finances, spurred by what he called the “crisis situation” at the University of Southern Maine. The bill fell short by two votes.