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April 29, 2020

UConn could lose $121M if fall semester is online only

Photo | Contributed The University of Connecticut's flagship campus in Storrs.
By Sean Teehan

The University of Connecticut could lose up to $121.6 million in the fall, 2020 semester if the university's campuses remain largely closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

UConn President Thomas Katsouleas told members of the Board of Trustees Wednesday morning that the school will already lose a net of $20 million (when the $10.7 million UConn received from the federal CARES Act is factored in) this fiscal year. 

"It's clear that tough financial times are ahead," said Katsouleas, who was appointed UConn's president less than a year ago. "This is a critical time for the university and the decisions that the board makes now will have a lasting impact."

Next fall's year's losses would be largely attributable to reduced tuition from likely lower enrollment and the loss of student housing and service fees. 

In a best-case scenario where everything went back to normal for UConn, which mostly cleared its four campuses and began holding courses online in March, the school would lose about $29 million during the fall, 2020 semester, mostly because of the likelihood of fewer international students, a UConn spokeswoman said.

In a worst-case scenario where UConn is still fully online for the entire fall, 2020 semester, with bigger losses of international and out-of-state students, it would lose about $121.6 million, according to administration projections.

The administration will come to a decision by June 30, on whether UConn's four campuses in Storrs, Stamford, Hartford and Avery Point will open in the fall, Katsouleas said.

The  $30 million hit UConn is taking this year is largely due to refunds of residential student fees. UConn Health is also positioned to lose $130 million by the end of the fiscal year, including $115 million from canceled or postponed elective surgeries.

During Wednesday's board meeting, Katsouleas said UConn Health has cared for nearly 120 COVID-19 patients, and about 80 of them recovered and were discharged.

The board has already instituted a hiring and spending freeze to deal with the downturn.

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3 Comments

Anonymous
May 5, 2020

Businesses have to be creative in their thinking to function now and certainly in the Fall. With all of the intelligent folks at UCONN I am certain they can lay a plan for students to attend school in person safely even if it means doubling up classes with half of the students in each... Holding lecture halls via live streaming and then having small study groups... students wear masks to class. This of course excludes anyone who is a health risk. Once these students are gone they aren't coming back.

Anonymous
April 30, 2020

Why is so much of the UConn deficit directly tied to loss of income from student housing fees? Is UConn gouging their residential students? Shouldn't room and board be break-even line items?

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