Mid-Year Budget Update and Financial Highlights
February 29, 2024
Dear Stony Brook Faculty and Staff,
When the Strategic Budget Initiative was launched in 2020, our campus transitioned to an all-funds, multiyear planning process to increase the transparency of our financial operations and to stabilize Stony Brook’s budgetary foundation. These intentional efforts continue to position Stony Brook as the flagship for the future. Today I write to share a mid-year update on our operating budget and to provide key highlights from our state and federal partners.
The Budget and Finance teams recently released the university’s updated financial information, and a presentation during the March 4 University Senate meeting will provide additional background. While our all-funds financial position remains strong, challenges on the state purpose side remain, primarily caused by unfunded but mandated contractual salary increases (CSIs) that, this year alone, total $22.6 million. Specific to nonstate purpose funds, we are still waiting on reimbursement from FEMA and New York State for COVID-related costs, which total more than $170 million.
We have seen a significant loss in tuition revenue caused by a change in the mix of our students that began during the pandemic when international students were unable to return to campus. While Stony Brook received its highest-ever number of applicants this past fall, the decline in international students has not been fully regained, and the mix of in-state vs. out-of-state (including international) students continues to widen the fiscal gap. While our overall student numbers have held steady or increased, this change in mix has resulted in lower overall tuition revenue. We are making a concerted effort to rebalance our student mix.
The leaders in Albany have not approved a tuition increase since 2019. This long freeze has occurred while the cost to operate a world-class research institution has continued to rise. Comparable major public research universities in the Northeast have increased tuition and fees in response to these added costs and the inflationary increases that apply to the research university expenditures. Stony Brook currently has the lowest undergraduate in-state tuition and required fees among flagship institutions in the Northeast.
New York State Budget–Meeting Governor Hochul’s desire to advance Stony Brook’s flagship potential will require state investment and strategic management of all available campus resources. The FY2024 state budget provided an increase in research capital funding, which included a $100 million capital appropriation to upgrade, modernize, and expand our research enterprise. In collaboration with our deans, we have prioritized executable projects that will be underway in the coming months. Among other needed work, this funding will support the expansion and renovation of the Southampton Natural Science Center and acquisition of a new research vessel, development of high-voltage research and radiation labs, modernization of laboratory spaces for biomedical research and artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted phenotyping, and the creation of an engineering research laboratory specializing in semiconductor technologies to position Stony Brook in a leadership role in intelligent power.
In addition to the $100 million research capital detailed above, legislation was passed to provide an additional $100 million in capital for strategic initiative funding that will allow us to construct a new multidisciplinary engineering building and collaborative hub for experiential learning along with research labs focused on engineering-driven medicine, energy systems for sustainability, and AI-driven discovery. We are also building for the next generation of AI research, with $25 million from New York State to support the construction of new facilities.
The governor’s FY2025 Executive Budget proposal includes the following initiatives relevant to Stony Brook:
- Operating Aid — Proposes maintaining a second year of the state’s multiyear commitment to increase operating aid to SUNY by $53 million.
- CSIs — Proposes a one-year reimbursement of some of the costs associated with SUNY’s contractual CSIs.
- Capital Funding — Proposes additional funding to support critical maintenance repairs for Stony Brook.
- Stony Brook Southampton — Proposes building workforce housing on our Southampton campus to support Stony Brook Medicine and the local community. The governor’s overall housing proposal includes money for infrastructure, which we may be able to tap to fund expanding the sewer and water infrastructure that is needed for such housing.
Each of these proposals is an important starting point for negotiations with the state legislature. We continue to advocate for additional operating aid to cover the full cost of our CSIs, additional capital to support our flagship mission, and for funding to be increased to SUNY hospitals.
Federal Budget–Our advocacy around funding for innovative defense and energy research has resulted in securing $33 million in FY2024 federal appropriations bills for specific Stony Brook research projects. We were ably assisted by the New York congressional delegation, with particular effort by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Additionally, thanks to leader Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Stony Brook has secured $1 million in FY2024 congressionally directed spending to develop an innovative test platform and applications for offshore wind-generated hydrogen for high-efficiency domestic heating and cooling. I continue to urge Congress to complete the FY2024 budget process and pass a robust omnibus package to ensure the dissemination of this crucial federal funding.
Stony Brook’s budget planning process for FY2025 is currently underway. Because it starts prior to the passage of the New York State budget, which will likely be finalized by March 31, I have asked our senior campus leaders to assume no new state operating aid and no increase in tuition as they develop their unit budget proposals. Should resources become available, the information identified during the campus budget planning process will guide future investment decisions.
Budget investments will be linked to Stony Brook’s Strategic Plan that was announced in October. Last month details were released about WolfieONE, which will help us share financial and operational data seamlessly across our institution. This project will continue our work around transparency, reduce manual processes, and enhance our planning and forecasting, all which tie directly into a new economic framework currently under development. The framework will transform our traditional budget model by allowing us to develop institutional incentives aligned with our Strategic Plan while promoting innovation and entrepreneurial activities, multi year planning, and accountability.
In the upcoming April accreditation site visit, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education team will be looking to validate our continued ability to deliver a quality educational experience. As we highlight our robust offerings and high levels of achievement, we must also demonstrate we are conscientious stewards of our resources so that the highest-quality education, research, and service can be sustained into the future.
I appreciate the work our community has done to put our financial house in order. We continue to advocate for the resources we need to deliver on the promise of a flagship that New York deserves. The ongoing support of Governor Kathy Hochul, Chancellor John B. King Jr., the SUNY board of trustees, and our legislative leaders is essential and appreciated. Together with all of you, we continue moving in the right direction.
Sincerely,
Maurie McInnis
President