University and Community College chancellors brief Education Funding Committee on enrollment decline, partnerships and costs

Chancellors for the University System and the Community College System outlined demographic pressures, finances and workforce-focused initiatives during a briefing to the House Education Funding Committee.

Catherine Provencher, chancellor of the University System of New Hampshire, told the committee the system serves about 23,000 students this fall with 19,000 undergraduates and that last fiscal year the system’s operating expenses were $928,000,000. “This fiscal year, fiscal 25, the university system is fortunate enough to receive $95,000,000 in state support from the, general fund budget,” Provencher said, noting that about $81 million of the appropriation “directly buys down in state tuition for New Hampshire students.” She said the system’s research activity has grown 75% since 2019 and that the system has an annual economic impact of $3,700,000,000 on the state.

Provencher said the system has kept in-state tuition flat for six years because of increased state support, and that net tuition and fees for New Hampshire residents have dropped 6.6% over the past four years. She warned the committee that…