The Alabama Commission on Higher Education is proposing a 11.19% budget increase for public colleges next year, which officials say will offset unexpected costs of staffing demands and economic inflation.
Commissioners approved a $2.36 billion budget recommendation for the 2023-24 fiscal year at ACHE’s quarterly meeting Monday. The recommendation includes $207.15 million more for public two- and four-year institutions than last year’s appropriation.
“The operations of the state’s colleges and universities are facing new challenges in today’s world, such as competing with remote work opportunities in addition to salary compression,” said ACHE Executive Director Jim Purcell said in a news release.
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The ask, while hefty, is less than last year’s recommendation to boost the budget by nearly 18%, and comes amid record growth in the state’s education budget.
This year, ACHE said it will focus about 41% of the additional funds on salary bumps and benefits, while about 38% will respond to rising inflationary costs. Other added costs will account for weighted credit hours and mandatory funds.
Construction costs, in particular, have been an added burden on state colleges, commissioners said, largely due to the rising cost of lumber and other building materials.
“Institutions told us they completed the study phase of construction, and several months later when work began, the quote had increased by several million dollars,” Finance Committee Chairman Stan Nelson said in the news release.
ACHE also plans to ask the legislature for an additional $5 million for deferred maintenance projects at Alabama colleges and universities, and an additional $6 million to support reengagement efforts with Alabamians who dropped out of college before earning their degrees.
Rebecca Griesbach is a member of The Alabama Education Lab team at AL.com. Her position is supported through a partnership with Report for America, a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.