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Chad Marturano, chief financial officer for the University of Colorado system, presented budget proposals for all four CU campuses to the Board of Regents during the board’s meeting on Thursday. 

The Board of Regents will vote on the budget proposals during their meeting in April. The 2023–24 fiscal year begins July 1, 2023.

Key aspects of CU Boulder’s budget proposal include: 

• 4% increase in tuition for incoming undergraduate resident and non-resident students—because of CU Boulder’s tuition guarantee, only new students, not continuing undergraduates who will complete their degrees in four years, will see an increase in their tuition.
• 4% tuition increase for graduate students.
• 4% merit compensation pool for university staff, faculty and graduate students on appointment. The campus plans to propose an additional 4% merit pool for the 2024-25 fiscal year, if funds are available, to allow a total 8% merit pool over the next two years.
• 5% across-the-board pay increase for classified staff in line with the state of Colorado.
• Minimum wage increases for staff ($18/hour) and student workers ($16/hour).

“Our budget proposal enables us to remain mindful of affordability for our students while compensating our faculty and staff for the vital work that they do amid a competitive employment landscape,” CU Boulder Chief Operating Officer Patrick O’Rourke said. 

The 2023–24 budget proposal also includes increased funding for institutional financial aid and ongoing support for the Chancellor’s Diversity Initiative. 

CU Boulder is projecting a 0.7% overall decrease in enrollment in fiscal year 2023–24. Undergraduate enrollment at CU Boulder is projected to decrease 0.2%, with incoming resident students down from the higher-than-expected fall 2022 numbers. Graduate enrollment is also projected to be down 2.5% from fall 2022. 

According to O’Rourke, the decline is largely because the campus graduated a larger-than-normal cohort of graduate students after returning to more normal operations last year. The campus also saw a decline in international enrollments after the pandemic and is exploring strategies to expand international enrollment for fall 2023 and beyond.

Continuing undergraduate and transfer enrollments are projected to remain in line with fall 2022. 

Chancellor Philip DiStefano noted tuition revenue alone won’t fully fund campus initiatives.

“It’s clear we need to orient our resources to our highest priorities in order to continue making progress on our strategic imperatives,” he said. DiStefano pointed to continued campus efforts related to climate; health and wellness for our students, faculty and staff; student retention and graduation; and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts as key areas of movement and investment for campus.

Todd Haggerty, chief financial officer for the Boulder campus, thanked his team for their work on compiling, analyzing and modeling the information needed to create the budget proposal. “I’m grateful for the pragmatic conversations we are able to have about our budget,” he said