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UA System chancellor has different view than Auburn of Ivey’s proposed budget

University of Alabama System Chancellor Finis “Fess” St. John has countered recent remarks by Auburn University Trustee Jimmy Rane, who said Friday that Governor Kay Ivey’s proposed Education Trust Fund budget is “not kind to Auburn.”

As chair of the Auburn Board of Trustees’ governmental affairs committee, Rane outlined, “With record revenues and the largest budget education ever, Auburn received the lowest percentage increase among colleges and universities. While our increase is 5 percent, the University of Alabama’s increase is more than 7.5 percent.”

However, in a statement to Yellowhammer News, St. John pointed out that Auburn historically has and still is getting more operations and maintenance (O&M) funding than the University of Alabama. In fact, Auburn got 34 percent more O&M dollars per full-time enrolled student in FY 2018.

“We remain grateful for the taxpayer funding we receive through state appropriations and will always do our best to be responsible stewards of those resources,” St. John said.

“In recent days, we have seen comments suggesting that Auburn University’s proposed budget allocation is not fair in comparison to that for The University of Alabama. For decades, and for reasons we have never understood, Auburn University has received a far larger state appropriation than The University of Alabama. The per student funding advantage for AU over UA is even wider. We embrace any conversation, today and in the future, about equitable and fair funding for our State’s great universities and the students we serve,” he emphasized.

Auburn’s full-time student enrollment was recorded as 27,468 in the fall of 2018 while the University of Alabama’s full-time enrollment was 33,038. These are the most recent available numbers.

UA got $146,089,724 in operations and maintenance funding from Ivey’s FY 18 budget, while Auburn received $162,700,206. This breaks down to $4,421.87 per full-time student for UA and $5,923.26 for Auburn.

This trend has generally continued, with UA’s FY 2019 O&M funding being $151,862,111 vs. Auburn’s $168,472.593. For Ivey’s proposed FY 2020 budget, UA’s O&M funding is $164,087,170 while Auburn’s is $177,192,494.

Sources with direct knowledge have also stressed that Ivey’s budget proposal was based on data-centric recommendations from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE). Sources emphasized that Auburn has been the only university not to accept ACHE’s proposed accountability measures.

This comes as the University of Alabama is set to freeze in-state tuition rates for the second consecutive year; in fact, the University of Alabama System’s trustees in June are expected to approve a historic system-wide in-state tuition freeze.

“The University of Alabama System is committed to accountability. In response to the needs of Alabama students, we have frozen tuition at the University of Alabama for two years. Last week, we announced a System-wide tuition freeze for UA, UAB, and UAH. To our knowledge, no other university in the state has frozen tuition,” St. John advised.

He concluded, “Our System is committed to improving education in Alabama at every level, from pre-K to Ph.D. and every level in between. We pledge to work together across the State to serve our citizens and improve the future for every student.”

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

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