Bruininks' budget assumes worst case scenario

University of Minnesota president Robert Bruininks offers up a "provisional" budget to the board of regents later this week.

Since lawmakers and Governor Mark Dayton failed to come up with a budget fix before they adjourned, Bruininks can only guess at what the U's funding will be next year.  That means he's had to make a few assumption in his budget.

So he's going with a "worst case scenario". A $70 million dollar reduction in state money for the U (over this year's levels).  The U's entire annual budget is about $1.3 billion.

Bruininks' budget makes up the shortfall with a 5 percent tuition increase for in-state undergrads (no word on the increase for non-residents or graduate and professional students). There's also a wage freeze for employees, layoffs and cuts to programs.

This is a "provisional" budget, so if the U ends up taking a smaller cut in funding once a state budget fix is in place, money will got back into the budget.

The budget also plans for a state government shutdown.  The U has some money set aside for just such an event, and would be able to operate during a shutdown, at least for a while.

You can see Bruininks' budget here, just scroll down to page 70.

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