FY 2019 Budget

Tue, 24 Apr 2018 09:27:24 -0400

Dear Members of the UMBC Community,

The 2018 Maryland General Assembly Session is complete, and we are pleased to share that the FY 2019 State budget reflects steady support for public higher education and UMBC by the Governor and the legislature.

The total budget authorization for UMBC is $457 million, a 3 percent increase over the FY 2018 adjusted working budget. The budget includes a 2 percent faculty and staff cost-of-living salary increase beginning January 1, 2019. If fiscal 2018 revenues exceed forecasted levels by at least $75 million, employees will receive an additional 0.5 percent increase and a $500 bonus in April 2019. The additional State support also allows tuition increases for Fall 2019 to be moderate: 2 percent for in-state undergraduates and 3 percent for in-state graduate students. Out-of-state tuition for both undergraduate and graduate students will increase by 5 percent.

We also are pleased to report that our State allocation for FY 2019 includes $4 million to continue to raise our per-student funding. UMBC received supplemental funding of $3.5 million for this purpose in FY 2018. The additional $4 million in FY 2019 is the next step toward aligning our funding with the State’s funding guidelines. This means that the State will have added $7.5 million to the base budget for UMBC, over and above regular operating increases.

The FY 2019 authorization also includes $62.8 million in State capital funds to complete the Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building (ILSB) scheduled to open by Fall 2019, and $3 million to cover the operational costs for opening this building. The ILSB will include active-learning classrooms, multidisciplinary teaching labs, and flexible research laboratories. These facilities will help to address research space shortages and support the creation of interdisciplinary research teams investigating vital questions in the life and environmental sciences.

Finally, the FY 2019 budget also provides $340,000 to fund the Maryland Technology Internship Program to be administered by the UMBC Career Center, and $5 million to establish the Maryland Center for Computing Education, a P-14 partnership administered by USM that will focus on preparing students for computing degrees. Kudos to UMBC colleagues whose expert advocacy secured approval of these workforce development initiatives.

The State’s investment in higher education and support for our UMBC community is directly related to the talent and commitment of our faculty, staff, students, and alumni, who work each day to advance this great university. We thank you for all that you do for UMBC.

President Freeman Hrabowski and Provost Philip Rous