The leader of New Hampshire's public college and university system says she’ll find ways to meet the 8% spending cut proposed by Gov. Kelly Ayotte. But University System Chancellor Cathy Provencher also repeatedly asked state budget writers Monday not to seek further reductions.
“We respectfully request that state funding be held at the governor’s level,” Provencher said in testimony to members of the House Finance Committee.
Provencher emphasized a number of steps the University System has already taken to trim costs, including laying off staff, limiting employee benefits, and selling underused university properties. But she also emphasized that living under the budget proposed by Ayotte, which would send the state’s public universities and colleges $16 million less over the next two years, will require significant changes.
"We frankly can't nibble around the edges anymore. We need to start making some decisions about what we are not going to do, and we are developing those plans right now," Provencher said.
The University System — which includes the campuses of the University of New Hampshire, Keene State and Plymouth State — had already announced in-state tuition will be going up for the first time in six years.
Provencher, who spent seven years as state treasurer before becoming chancellor, told lawmakers that the University System has “a strong balance sheet,” but also structural challenges, including declining student enrollment, which has fallen 11% since the last tuition hike.
Provencher said state demographics suggest enrollment will continue to fall, requiring what a handout she provided lawmakers described as plans to “consolidate services to leverage scale.”
She also cited uncertainty around federal funding – the University System received $222 million in federal grants last year alone – as a challenge, and said university staff are now evaluating 1,200 grants to determine if they contain language contrary to Trump administration legal guidance barring taxpayer-funded diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
