Enrollment drop at Mizzou could mean millions in lost revenue

A predicted drop in Mizzou enrollment for the fall 2016 semester could lead to millions of dollars in lost revenue.

In a memo Interim Chancellor Hank Foley sent Wednesday, Foley said the predicted drop in enrollment amounts to roughly 1,500 students. That would cause $30-32 million less revenue in the 2017 fiscal year.

That number, according to Foley, does not take into account any lowered funding from the state. That much lost revenue could affect as many as 600 positions at the school.

Foley said simply raising tuition would not be enough to cover the shortfall. He instead recommended several guidelines for planning the 2017 FY budget. Those include:

Cutting 5% to all annual general revenue budgets A hiring freeze across the board, unless hiring for a position is approved at the vice chancellor level or above No annual merit increases for the entire campus. Promotional increases for faculty will still be provided.

Foley’s memo comes after a meeting of the Regional Economic Development, Inc. board in Columbia. At the meeting, a Mizzou representative briefed the board on the predicted enrollment drop.

In January, we found enrollment for spring 2016 at Mizzou was lower than the five-year average. The chart below compares the number of students on the opening day of each semester with the numbers 20 days into the semester.

Semester

Opening Day Sudents Census Day (20th day) Fall 2010 32,009 32,415 Spring 2011 30,113 30,767 Fall 2011 33,318 33,805 Spring 2012 31,144 31,816 Fall 2012 34,255 34,748 Spring 2013 31,641 32,563 Fall 2013 34,111 34,658 Spring 2014 32,060 32,738 Fall 2014 34,935 35,441 Spring 2015 32,588 33,263 Fall 2015 35,050 35,448 Spring 2016 32,525 Available 2/16