Pitt 2016-2017 operating budget approved

Pitt’s Board of Trustees approved the University’s  $2.1 billion operating budget for the 2016-2017 fiscal year Monday.

Chancellor Patrick Gallagher sent an email to the Pitt community Wednesday afternoon detailing some of the decisions made in the approved budget. The decisions include tuition increases, a one percent budget reduction in Pitt’s education and general budget and a 1.5 percent pay pool to support salary increases for faculty and staff.

“Our goal in formulating a budget is to approach tuition as a component of a value-driven equation that puts the interests of students and alumni foremost,” Gallagher said in a release. “Serving those interests requires us to carefully monitor and control costs, while increasing quality. Pitt’s reputational strength as a world leader in learning and research is most meaningful when considered against its work to remain one of the best-value institutions in higher education today.”

The tuition schedule approved by the Board includes a 2.3 increase for in-state students and a 2.75 increase for out-of-state students on Pitt’s Oakland campus. Tuition for students at Pitt’s regional campuses will increase 1.9 percent. These have been the smallest tuition increases on the main campus in 41 years and the first increase in two years at the regional campuses, Gallagher said in the email.

“This choice was not made without significant consideration of the impact on students,” Gallagher said. “The affordability of a great Pitt education is vitally important, and it is our shared responsibility to control costs while maximizing the value of a Pitt degree to our students.”

Half of the 1.5 percent pay pool will go toward supporting pay increases for Pitt employees with performance evaluations which show “satisfactory or greater achievement.” The other half of the pool will go to “responsibility center leaders” who work with vice chancellors to address needs related to “merit, market and equity issues.”

The budget also includes a 0.5 percent pay raise pool to address needs of Pitt employees with “satisfactory or greater achievement” performance evaluations who have a compensation of less than $45,000 annually. Another 0.5 percent pool will go toward supporting “merit, market and equity needs” of faculty.

September paychecks retroactive to July 1 will include compensation increases.