Connecticut State Colleges and Universities may need $1.2B in state aid over next two years

Connecticut’s public college and university system may require approximately $1.2 billion in state funding over the next two years in order to maintain its current operations.

According to a preliminary analysis from the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system administrators that was first reported in the Connecticut Mirror, the system ”“ which consists of four state universities, 12 community colleges and the online Charter Oak College ”“ requires nearly $593 million in state operating grants and fringe benefit support in the next fiscal year, a 3.3 percent increase over the current funding level. Furthermore, another $639 million will be needed in the following fiscal year, an 11.3 percent spike in state aid.

The regents’ system held nearly $190 million in its reserves in the 2017 fiscal year, but those reserves could be down to $142 million by the end of the current fiscal year. The Board of Regents for Higher Education’s Finance and Infrastructure Committee is scheduled to meet today to start the process of determining state funding requests for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 fiscal years. Board member Richard J. Balducci, the chairman of the finance committee, lamented that the request for more financial help comes at a time when the state is projected to run a $2 billion deficit in the first fiscal year following the elections in November.

“We’re looking at negative numbers year after year, and that’s really distressing,” said Balducci. “We’re in trouble.”