After years of spending more, Carl Albert State College trims budget

After a decade of spending more every year, Carl Albert State College (CASC) in Poteau, OK, is dealing with a spending decrease this year.  But the reduction of less than 1% pales in comparison with some of the increases over the last ten years.  As the chart below shows, even with the cut in spending this year CASC has seen an average yearly increase of 6.7% which is nearly three times the inflation rate over that period.  In FY2006 and FY2007, CASC increased spending by 10% and 19%, respectively.  And even in FY2011 when the state was coming off of a revenue failure and dealing with a budget shortfall, CASC’s budget rose by more than 5%.

Like the other colleges and universities in the state studied so far (see list at the bottom of this story), CASC is relying less on state appropriations to fund its budget and more on tuition and fees.  In FY2003, 70% of the CASC budget was made up of state appropriations while 27% came from tuition and fees.  In FY2012, state appropriations are barely a majority of the budget at 52% while tuition and fees comprise 43% of the school’s spending.

As a result of relying more on tuition and fees, which are not controlled by state lawmakers, CASC’s total budget in FY2012 is 78% higher than it was in FY2003.  In that time, the amount given by the state has increased from $4.9-million in FY2003 to $6.4-million in FY2012, an increase of 31%.  But tuition and fee revenue rose from $1.9-million in FY2003 to $5.3-million in FY2012, an increase of 180%.  CASC, like all other state colleges and universities, raised tuition for the current school year.

This is the 19th story in the series looking at budgets of higher education institutions.  Of those, 15 have increased spending in FY2012.  Click on the school name below to read about the other schools examined so far.

• University of Oklahoma
• Oklahoma State University
• Northwestern Oklahoma State University
• East Central University
• University of Central Oklahoma
• Southeastern Oklahoma State University
• Northeastern Oklahoma State University
• Southwestern Oklahoma State University
• Oklahoma Panhandle State University
• Oklahoma City Community College
• Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College
• Seminole State College
• Cameron University
• Tulsa Community College
• Rogers State University
• Rose State College
• Langston University
• Connors State College

Be sure to check back tomorrow for another installment!

Related posts:

• Spending is up at Seminole State College
• While state budget is cut 5%, Connors State College budget increases 5%
• While state budget is cut 5%, Connors State College budget increases 5%
• Rose State College is actually spending less
• Spending is up at Seminole State College

Posted by Oklahoma Watchdog on August 29, 2011. Filed under Oklahoma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry