Regents Approve FY25 Operating Budget (June 20, 2024)

Dear Colleagues,

Today, the Board of Regents approved UM-Dearborn’s $175 million general operating budget for Fiscal Year 2025. This year’s budget maintains our focus on affordability, accessibility, and student success. It includes an increase in financial aid over last year’s budget and a modest merit increase for employees. 

The budget also includes $1.1 million in additional financial aid over this year. This will ensure continued funding for the Go Blue Guarantee and other programs that help high-achieving, underrepresented students attend UM-Dearborn. Last academic year, we were able to provide approximately $8.2 million in aid to fully cover tuition and fees to more than 1200 Dearborn Wolverines.

Our budget includes a 4.7% tuition increase for full-time, in-state undergraduates and a 4.9% increase for graduate students. These increases are below the State of Michigan’s dollar tuition restraint amount and reflect our commitment to advancing academic excellence while remaining fiscally prudent.  

A major challenge in crafting this year’s budget was continued inflation, including a significant increase in costs related to insurance. Healthcare costs will increase by nearly 12%, while other insurance costs, such as property and casualty insurance, are increasing by as much as 32%. These increases, when added together and compounded with last year’s health insurance increase, total almost $2 million. Each unit identified ways to reduce their spending to offset these increases in ways that will not impact student learning. We are starting early to prepare for the next fiscal year's budget to determine how to adjust if higher insurance and inflation rates persist.

We approach our budget conservatively — that is the responsible thing to do. We are encouraged that our overall student population is projected to have slight growth in the coming academic year and that the Michigan Legislature is discussing a modest 2.5% increase in higher education support, including further investment in the Michigan Achievement Scholarship. Both of these developments would have small, but positive, impacts on our budget. We will know more about the state’s budget in the coming weeks. 

Faculty and Staff Senates, as well as our University Budget Committee, were highly engaged in budget conversations. I am grateful for their continued input and support. I would also like to thank Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs Bryan Dadey, who led the budgeting process, as well as his staff, and all of the university’s senior leaders who contributed valuable insight. If you would like to learn more about our budgeting process and all the various factors that we need to consider, I encourage you to watch Bryan’s informative presentation from the 2024 State of the University event. It begins at the 23-minute mark.

With sincere appreciation, 
Domenico Grasso
Chancellor