Northern Kentucky University plans to reduce staff and trim its budget midway through the year as it faces new financial challenges.
The university says it's receiving less funding from the state and is experiencing a slight decline in graduate and international student enrollment this fall, causing a drop in revenue.
About 24% of NKU's total revenue comes from state appropriations. Kentucky funds its higher education institutions using a performance-based model, where universities receive a base level of funding and are then awarded additional funding based on factors like student success and course completion. NKU says the amount of performance-based funding it received this year was less than anticipated.
In a letter sent to staff Monday, NKU President Cady Short-Thompson outlined the incoming budget reductions.
"These adjustments include eliminating some vacant positions, reducing operating budgets, and making a small number of staffing reductions, accounting for less than one percent of our total workforce," she wrote. "To be clear, this is not a hiring freeze; we have several key vacant positions which are currently posted for application."
Short-Thompson says the midyear changes are being made to keep the university's budget balanced.
This summer, NKU's Board of Regents approved the university's first budget with a positive balance in years, eliminating what once was a $24 million deficit a few years prior. Despite the positive balance in the current fiscal year, a recent university financial forecast shows a $1.1 million deficit in fiscal year 2027 and a $4.1 million deficit in fiscal year 2028.
The university's regents will meet next Nov. 19.
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