By Joe Wilson —
The U of L Board of Trustees approved the operating budget for the Fiscal Year 2023 on June 23.
On July 1, the operating budget will be $1,521,853,578, the largest budget in the university’s history. The latest budget is $186 million larger than last year’s. In addition, the university expects revenues for the Fiscal Year 2023 to total $1,490,267,918. The university has presented a balanced budget along with $31,585,660 of unused funds from the prior year.
The budget outlines three main priorities for the upcoming fiscal year: investing in students, employees, and the university’s infrastructure.
For students, the university plans to create the Cardinal Commitment program to pay full tuition for many Pell-eligible students. In addition, the budget includes an increase in graduate student stipends totaling $600,000.
For university employees, the budget includes a cost-of-living salary increase of 2.5 percent for faculty and staff and a starting minimum wage of $14.75 for full-and part-time staff. The budget also notes the university hopes to increase the minimum wage further to $15 per hour by early 2023.
The budget also allocates funds to improve the university’s physical infrastructure, website, and brand marketing campaign.
Writing to the Board of Trustees, U of L Interim President Lori Gonzalez says: “Our proposed budget is mathematically balanced. It ensures that our efforts over the past few years to develop a solid and predictable financial base continue, even in the face of the many challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic brought us. This budget also underscores the commitment to be responsible stewards of our funds.”
File Photo // The Louisville Cardinal //
