FROSTBURG, Md. — Frostburg State University is addressing a significant budget deficit of $7.7 million, driven by declining enrollment and state funding cuts exceeding $1.5 million. To stabilize finances, FSU has implemented a multi-year plan focusing on administrative reorganization, faculty staffing reductions, cuts to athletics budgets and operational reductions, aiming to save millions annually. Despite these challenges, FSU assures the community that educational quality will remain unaffected and emphasizes its commitment to students’ success. The University System of Maryland has pledged support to help FSU regain financial stability, ensuring the institution’s continued strength and regional partnership.
The following message was sent to students on Aug. 1:
Dear Students (and Parents),
As you may be aware, Frostburg State University is facing some major budget challenges this year and over the next several years, which have led us to make some very complex decisions to remedy that situation. We want to be transparent with our Bobcat community and to assure families that there is no risk of FSU closing and our students’ education will not be altered or interrupted. In fact, quite the opposite. The difficult, yet necessary financial decisions that we have implemented or will implement over the next several months and years are in the best interest of the institution to meet our fiscal challenges and have the least impact on our students. We can assure you that FSU will continue to be strong educationally, strong financially, and a committed partner to our region.
It is important to note that anywhere we identify projected deficits, surpluses, reductions, savings or revenues, that these numbers represent our best estimates based on the information we have at this time and are subject to change.
Our structural budget deficit for the current and future fiscal years is $7.7 million. Many smaller, regional, comprehensive, public higher education institutions struggle with enrollment, and FSU is, unfortunately, no exception. Fewer high school graduates, the lingering impacts of COVID, and the problem-laden rollout of the new FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form have all had a hand in declining enrollment.
In addition to the loss of revenue from fewer students, cuts in state funding for education continue. FSU’s budget was cut by more than $1.5 million beginning this July. While stabilizing enrollment is key to resolving our financial challenges, we also needed to critically examine our revenues and expenses. Over the summer, we formed a budget team made up of members of our shared governance units – faculty, staff and students – to assist our leadership in identifying and evaluating options for resolving our fiscal deficit.
Our plan, which will be a multi-year effort, focuses on four main elements: an administrative reorganization (for projected savings up to $1.7 million in FY25 and beyond); a reduction in faculty staffing (for projected savings up to $3.9 million in FY26 and up to $4.8 million in FY27); reductions to our athletics budget and scholarship reallocations (for projected savings of $883,000 in FY25 and beyond); and University and unit operational reductions (for projected savings up to $1 million in FY25 and beyond). A reduction in faculty staffing will address an imbalance in the reduction of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) enrollments of 36% since FY 2010 versus the reduction of FTE faculty by only 14% during that same period.
FSU is extremely fortunate to be one of twelve institutions that make up the University System of Maryland (USM). USM has assured us that if we are able to implement a plan to resolve our budget deficit, placing FSU on solid financial footing once again, they will provide us financial support and flexibility to bridge the time it takes to resolve our challenges.
This will not be easy, but we have always been good stewards of funds, making necessary adjustments over the years to balance our budget. We will continue to meet the needs and expectations of our students and their families so that they can confidently pursue the next step in their education.
We will continue to update our students and families on the status and progress of our budget plan.
Sincerely,
Al Delia, Acting President/Vice President for Regional Development and Engagement
Ronald Nowaczyk, PhD, President
