Administrators with the College of William & Mary painted a rosier financial picture for the school Friday than had been the case last fall, thanks to updated revenue projections out of Richmond.
Vice President for Finance Sam Jones reviewed the financial outlook for fiscal year 2016, which begins July 1, during the college’s Board of Visitors meeting Friday.
After a grim outlook last fall, Jones said the state’s general fund revenues increased 13.1 percent in December, primarily due to growth in payroll withholding taxes.
The December bump pushed total revenue growth projection for FY 15 to 6.8 percent, ahead of the projected figure of 3.1 percent.
“Revenue-wise, after the shortfall, the state looks like they’re in good shape,” Jones said.
Jones said the extra revenue could help alleviate some of the pressure imposed on the college by the General Assembly during last summer’s financial crisis. In an effort to close the state’s nearly $2 billion budget gap, Gov. Terry McAuliffe recommended a reduction in state support to William & Mary of $2.3 million for this year and FY 2016.
Initial cuts left a $272 million hole in the budget, which Jones said many feared would be distributed evenly across all state agencies, including the college. That did not come to pass, as McAuliffe’s December budget recommendations included no additional cuts to the college’s funding.
Jones said the revenue figures had received a small increase in funding thanks to the revised figures, totaling around $550,000, which would be directed toward undergraduate need-based aid, research equipment support and building maintenance.
“We came out of this better than we expected,” he said.
Jones said another positive development was the General Assembly’s decision not to impose restrictions on the state’s public universities to alter tuition rates for the coming year.
The William & Mary Promise policy locks-in tuition for four years rates for incoming in-state freshmen, but does not apply to out-of-state or continuing students. For freshmen entering the college for the 2014-2015 academic year, annual tuition and fees totaled $17,656 for in-state students, and $39,916 for out-of-state students.
A draft of the college’s budget will go before the BOV during its April meeting.
Related Coverage:
- State Budget Woes Could Force W&M to Cut Millions From 2015 Budget
- State Budget Deal Slashes Funding to William & Mary, Local Governments
- McAuliffe Announces Plan to Expand Health Insurance Coverage, Mental Health Services
- Republican House Speaker Throws Out Medicaid Spending Veto
- McAuliffe Announces New Effort to Expand Medicaid, Issues Budget Vetoes
- General Assembly Passes Budget Lacking Medicaid Expansion
- Budget Continues W&M Promise, Offers $2.5 Million More in Financial Aid
- William and Mary Promises Fixed Tuition, Faculty Pay Increases
