Revised University Budget for 2020-2021 

The Rutgers University Board of Governors has approved a revised $4.45 billion budget that adjusts for a restoration of proposed cuts to in-state support; an unprecedented collapse of dining, housing and other revenues; and cost increases related to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The amended budget includes the restoration by the legislature, in the budget enacted by Governor Murphy last month, of a proposed cut in state aid. The decision to restore this funding was critical and helpful; without this restoration, our deficit would be projected at $200 million or more.  Direct state operating aid to the university totals $437 million, or about 10 percent of Rutgers’ overall budget. 

Even with the restoration of state support, the adjusted budget still presents a nearly $100 million deficit this year, and we continue to confront a fiscal emergency requiring extraordinary steps to fill the largest financial hole the university has ever experienced. 

The budget reflects several significant and substantial revenue shortfalls from the original budget, including: 

• Auxiliary revenues (housing, dining, and parking, for example) have been reduced by $73.5 million. 

• Health care revenues have fallen by $43.4 million. 

• Other sources of revenue (including gifts and investment income) are down by $11.2 million. 

The adjusted budget assumes cost savings including additional furloughs intended to preserve jobs for the university’s 23,600 employees, a continued prohibition on business travel, an ongoing suspension of new capital construction projects and a review of all active projects, and a freeze on discretionary spending related to university operations.   

In addition to cost savings, Rutgers will be exploring other cost containment measures throughout the year in order to balance this year’s budget, including continuing to draw down previously designated university reserves that had been set aside for other purposes. 

The pandemic has had a profound impact on finances at all colleges and universities, and Rutgers is no exception. With the help of so many members of the Rutgers community – students, staff, faculty, and others – we have made good progress in closing the gap while imposing a tuition freeze and reducing fees for most of the 70,000 students who study at Rutgers. 

I want to thank you for your continued cooperation, flexibility, and grace as we face the global pandemic.