It’s been a challenging few years financially for the state’s public higher education institutions. Both the University of Connecticut and Connecticut State Colleges and Universities have relied on one-time state and Covid-era emergency funding to cover their rising costs, even as they raised tuition rates. Beginning this year, they won’t have those extra funds to rely on. But securing tens of millions of additional state dollars in funding, which the schools’ leaders say they need, could be a difficult negotiation. In a speech to state lawmakers Wednesday, Gov. Ned Lamont called out the leadership of both systems. “UConn is gaining students and increasing costs, CT State is losing students and increasing costs,” he told members of the General Assembly, gathered for the first day of the 2025 legislative session. “I have been reaching out to university presidents across the country who receive significantly less state funding per student,” Lamont went on. “They maintain excellence, and yet they hold the line on tuition increases.” Both UConn and CSCU have pledged not to raise tuition this year — for the first time since 2000 for UConn and 2021 for CSCU. Over the last two years, community college tuition has gone up 11% while tuition and fees at regional universities was up 7%. At UConn tuition and student fees have increased by more than 20% since 2019. “It’s our recognition that we can’t solve all our problems on the backs of students,” said Reka Wrynn, UConn’s associate vice president for budget, planning, and institutional research. But the decision not to raise needed revenue from students will lend additional pressure to funding negotiations, which begin in earnest this month, as the 2025 legislative session gets underway. The governor is expected to present his budget recommendations for Fiscal Years 2026 and 2027 early next month. In order to keep to their promise to freeze tuition at current rates, the two sprawling public higher education systems must trim their budgets and break open their emergency piggy banks. Leaders from both systems say they’re already on their way, and the amount of funding they’re requesting this year from the state reflects efficient and responsible spending plans. For the current year, fiscal year 2025, UConn received a total of $326.2 million in state aid, which included $98.8 in one-time funding. UConn’s request for FY 2026, $300.2 million, is technically less than what it received this year — a slimmer budget. But without the one-time funding factored in, the request amounts to an additional $73 million over this year’s baseline grant. The FY 2027 request, $284.7 million, is a further reduction but still an increase over current funds excluding the one-time boost. (These figures don’t include UConn’s Farmington-based health center.) Connecticut State Colleges and Universities — which includes the state’s 12 community colleges, four regional state universities and online Charter Oak State College — is requesting $463 million for the coming fiscal year. That’s $53 million less than this year’s funding, CSCU spokesperson Samantha Norton said. But it still amounts to an increase of $23 million over the baseline grant, not including one-time funding. For FY 2027, CSCU plans to trim its overall request by $2 million. Lamont offered some suggestions to school leaders in his State of the State address Wednesday. Namely, recruiting more students, expanding capacity in “high demand majors” and scaling back less popular degree programs. Connecticut’s community colleges, Lamont noted, have seen enrollment decline by 30% over the last decade. “Our debt-free community college program makes access easier, but innovation is overdue. We must develop a balance between traditional classroom experience, and more dual enrollment, stackable credentials, and flexible, online classes,” he said. Some of the measures Lamont mentioned in his speech are already underway at UConn. “We’re trying to do our part and find efficiency savings wherever we can to reduce that reliance upon the state,” UConn’s Wrynn said. But, she acknowledged, “We can’t do it all in one year.” If state funding comes up short, UConn may need to enroll more out-of-state students or tap alumni donations. The school has also been reviewing its smaller degree programs for cost savings. CSCU is in a more precarious financial position. The system faces deficits of $95 million for each of the next two years. That follows a year when CSCU worked to address a $140 million deficit by making cutbacks including $35 million in personnel cost reductions. CSCU Chancellor Terrence Cheng said the system plans to balance the majority of its budget the next two years through the use of reserves and spending reductions. The $463 million CSCU is requesting from the state for next year will keep the lights on, he said, but it doesn’t reflect the kind of robust investment Cheng would like to see in the state schools. “This is not the funding that we believe this system and our students need and deserve,” Cheng said. “It is a budget that shows that we are being incredibly mindful, responsible, accountable and very conservative.” Freezing tuition costs is key to maintaining access to higher education for the state’s underserved student populations, Cheng said. But the tradeoff could create challenges for that same group of students. A growing number of cuts to student services and adjust faculty across its institutions have eliminated or reduced cafeteria and library services, tutoring, disability, ESL and other administrative support. Unionized staff and faculty at both schools say while they understand the budget constraints, they believe more should be done to provide opportunities to students. End of an era The coming year’s budget negotiations come after several years operating with a looming funding threat: the elimination of one-time revenue, both from the Covid-19 pandemic and other one-time state investments, that helped the state’s higher education institutions balance their budgets. The governor has been urging leaders of both systems to prepare for life without that additional state support. Lamont has also insisted the state has been making historic investments in education. But advocates and leaders in both K-12 and higher education say the state’s contributions have not kept pace with the growing number of high-need students and associated costs to educate them — as well as historic inflation and other ongoing expenses. Many have suggested the state’s funding models for education need to be overhauled. At the same time, CSCU leadership has come under scrutiny for its spending. A recent audit of expenses and credit card use revealed a “systemic problem,” including the misspending of thousands of dollars on food, entertainment and transportation by nearly all the campus presidents, State Comptroller Sean Scanlon found. Cheng attributed his school system’s impending deficits in large part to the loss of one-time funding, but acknowledged CSCU “did not receive enough scrutiny through the years.” He said school leaders are working to correct that. In less than three years, he said the system has cut roughly $120 million from its budget — around 10%.  “We hope that we can continue to demonstrate our responsibility, our commitment to financial stability and viability for the long term,” he said.  CSCU will be tapping $100 million in reserves and making $80 million in spending cuts in order to balance its budget, Cheng said. Those cuts won’t include layoffs to full-time employees or any program closures, but adjunct staff and student services will take a hit, he said. He said CSCU will still offer resources to help students, “but maybe the options are not quite as plentiful.” “It is definitely being stuck between a rock and a hard place,” he said. UConn has also made adjustments to cover rising costs. The UConn Foundation — the university’s fundraising arm — has had several record years in a row, Wrynn said. “Year over year in our budget, we’re increasing the amount of funding that we’re drawing down from the foundation,” she said. The university is also boosting revenue by increasing enrollment, particularly from out-of-state students who pay higher tuition. “That’s helpful to our bottom line as well,” Wrynn said. To reduce spending, the university has placed scrutiny on its hiring practices, evaluating more closely whether some open positions need to be filled and how to better optimize existing class sections. An emergency call station on the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs. Credit: Mark Mirko | CT Public Throughout the year, UConn has also undergone a review of programs with low-completion rates. UConn reviewed 215 programs, and at the December Board of Trustees meeting, decided to close four, consolidate eight and continue 173 of them. Among the closures: a master’s in politics and popular culture and graduate certificates in global risk management, global health and obesity prevention and weight management. An additional eighteen are being evaluated and could be shelved.  UConn spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said the program evaluations weren’t undertaken specifically to cut costs. She called it an “administrative organizational exercise [and] something that Provost offices do on a regular basis.” Small programs might not be worth as much time and resources as more popular programs, Reitz said. “It is not targeted to save money by cutting places based just on the dollar amount, but the result would be efficiencies, and efficiencies do save money.” In response to Lamont’s remarks Wednesday, Cheng said he believes CSCU and UConn are in distinct positions. “I think there is a big difference between UConn, which is a state research flagship and has $400-plus million in research expenditures, versus a community college,” he said. “The large majority of the budget of any community college in the country comes from a state appropriation. …I believe we’re actually comparing apples to pineapples. “I don’t think there’s any malintent from the governor, I think there’s an obvious call for more fiscal accountability and responsibility,” Cheng added. “Where I agree with the governor is that we need to continue to push for more innovation, to continue to evolve, and to try to serve as many more people in Connecticut as we can.” Union doubt Union members at each of the institutions have called for transparency regarding funding and cuts.  In January, members of the UConn-AAUP, gathered to protest their administration’s five-year financial plan. They claimed the anticipated budget cuts would “fundamentally destabilize” the university. At CSCU, members of the 4Cs, which represents staff at community colleges, and CSU-AAUP, which represents staff at Connecticut’s regional universities, have continuously called for further investment and denounced fee increases and program cuts. At both universities, students have also pleaded for funding boosts. Sharper criticisms from the unions are now being directed at Lamont and state spending rules, known as “fiscal guardrails,” that force Connecticut lawmakers to set aside a significant portion of state revenues in savings and set strict spending and borrowing caps.  State officials say the guardrails have eliminated deficits and reduced debt. But as the government has piled up cash, many social service, health care and education programs say they’re facing dire financial circumstances.  “The bigger story that’s animating everything is the fiscal guardrails,” said Chris Vials, the union president at UConn. “Those have outlived their function, and they’re actually starting to just hobble the state’s ability to fund basic things.” Vials said the viability of smaller programs, union contracts and tuition rates are almost entirely dependent on whether schools receive state funds. Seth Freeman, the 4Cs president, said a reduction in state funding for higher education could exacerbate economic inequality in the state. “Attacks on public higher education are an attack on income and on equality,” he said. “Our students and those who come to our colleges to uplift themselves understand that as well. When we’re talking about education, it’s not just a line item on a spreadsheet for the governor to try to balance the budget.” Manoj Misra, an associate professor of sociology at Western Connecticut State University, said the government has a responsibility to students. “They use those fancy terms — rationalization, budget mitigation — and this is not about budget mitigation,” Misra said. “This is really a social justice issue. It’s an equity problem. They are really hurting the students who really need the most help.”