Ke Kalahea

Ke Kalahea - University of Hawaii at Hilo Student-Run Newspaper

UH Hilo’s FY 2025 Budget Offsets Enrollment Decline

By Jade Silva
Graphs by Jade Silva
Graphics by Stacy Watkins

On Oct. 25, 2024, UH Hilo released the updated budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. The budget, which went into effect July 1, 2024 and will continue until June 30, 2025, increasingly relies on state funding amidst declining enrollment to support essential operations, facility improvements, and new academic initiatives.

Stack of Money graphic As enrollment declines, so does the Tuition and Fees Special Fund (TSSF), one of two main revenue sources for UH. The other is the General Fund, which is allocated by state legislators based on factors like enrollment and past funding levels. As the graph below shows, with declining enrollment, UH has seen less money coming from the TSSF and more from the General Fund. In FY 2025, the general fund made up 63% of UH Hilo’s revenue source, up from 52% in FY 2020. That means, in that time period, the TSSF went from 46% of the revenue to only 37%. The majority of the General Fund comes from the general excise tax paid on all goods and services in the state. Fundings are sensitive to state budget constraints and economic downturns, making it a more precarious form of funding.

Bar Graph Thanks to this support from the state, even amidst enrollment issues, UH Hilo’s resources grew by around 11% in the last 5 years. FY 2025 saw a total of $77.5 million resources to FY 2020’s $67 million.

Hawaiʻi follows a ‘base plus’ funding model, meaning prior year allocations are adjusted to reflect enrollment, inflation, and new funding requests, such as for facility upgrades or additional programs. Some programs that got extra funding in the budget include:

  • A $400,000 subsidy to the athletics program to cover team travel and other expenses.
  • $210,000 to the MA Counseling Psychology program to help address state-wide need for more mental health professionals. In 2020, “Hawaii [was] only meeting about 14% of its need for mental health services,” John Souza, a Hilo therapist, told Civil Beat.
  • $285,000 to the B.A. in Educational Studies and Indigenous Teacher Education programs, aimed at strengthening pathways for educators and addressing the teacher shortage, which, while declining since its peak in 2022-2023, remains a critical concern.

Other programs that have seen changes include:

  • Payroll related expenses are up $460,000, or approximately 50% since FY 2024.
  • Construction, Repair, Deferred Maintenance (CRDM) increased from $49k last FY to $2.5 million.
  • The student employment allotment, which pays for wages for some on-campus jobs, is $918,000, up from $606,000 in 2020, but down almost $20,000 from last FY.
  • Academic Affairs funding is up $4.5 million since FY 2020, but as seen in the graph below, it hasn’t yet returned to previous levels.
  • Allotment to the Chancellor’s Office, which includes the Chancellor and the Vice Chancellors for Academic, Administrative, and Student Affairs, continues to grow (see chart). Additional units include Athletics, the Center for Mauna Kea Stewardship, and the Equal Opportunity Office.
  • The Opportunity Fund for the Future dropped $500,000, a reduction of around 70% since last year.

line graph of program funding Certain costs like utilities and maintenance are affected by lower enrollment. Fixed costs such as these don’t decrease with fewer students, which means the cost per student increases as the number of students decreases.

Howard Bowen, an American economist, said in 1980 that for a comprehensive university like UH Hilo, the optimal student population ranges between 5,000-10,000(at which point costs will begin to increase). This semester, we have closer to 2,600 students.

line graph of fixed expenses In May of this year, after the legislative session concluded, Kalbert Young, UH Vice President for Budget and Finance and Chief Financial Officer, shared his thoughts, saying, “For things related to the University of Hawaiʻi [system,] an initial review may seem like 2024 was a repeat of previous years’ results. However, I would postulate that there are some signs that there are a number of decent outcomes for UH, all things considered. Perhaps, it could be the first year in a trend toward future improvement.”

He continued, “Sustained funding may always be a major issue for UH programs and facilities, and despite a few shortcomings, I believe this budget represents decent support in a number of areas.”