The UH System Board Of Regents has approved a budget of $1.3 billion for the fiscal year 2011 and 25 percent of it will be spent on student scholarships.
The board unanimously approved the budget during the May 15 meeting. The five percent reduction in spending from state appropriations was considered in the budget process.
“I commend the board’s finance and administration committee for the long hours it spent poring over this budget,” UHS Board of Regents Chairman Welcome W. Wilson Sr. said in a UH press release. “They worked diligently to make necessary reductions while protecting priority initiatives that benefit our students and are crucial in UH’s journey toward Tier One status.”
The budget plan that will go into effect Sept. 1, was broken down between all the UH system schools. UH main will receive $1.01 billion, the majority of the funding.
With the economy still recovering from one of the worst financial crises since the Great Depression, many students are still struggling to cover college expenses.
“College tuition is getting crazy,” business junior Mukesh Pillai said. “A lot of expenses go into college like textbooks and living on-campus. People are discouraged from living on-campus, because of the expenses; scholarships can take care of that and allow students to get the full college experience.”
Pillai also said that this particular scholarship especially benefits him because of the possibility of spending more than the traditional four years in school.
“I’m planning to take a couple of more years at UH, so I definitely could use a scholarship from the Bauer College (of Business),” Pillai said. “Any student could always use financial help, whether it’s a scholarship, financial aid or anything that provides for expenses.”
The UH system budget is funded by state appropriations but almost 34 percent of it comes from tuition and fees.
The budget funds are applied mostly, at 56 percent, to student success and access.
“This will give students more opportunities to gain scholarships,” Engineering junior John M. George said. “This will also open up opportunities for people with financial problems.”
George said that his scholarship plays a major role in his expenses and makes a large difference for him.
“My particular scholarship covers half of my tuition,” he said. “If it wasn’t for my scholarship I probably wouldn’t have come to UH.”
