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Board accepts clean FY2025 audit, hears FY26 budget pressures and approves new Law Enforcement Academy flat fee
Summary
Auditors reported an unmodified FY2025 opinion and the board approved the audit and a change to Law Enforcement Academy tuition from per‑credit rates to flat program fees; administrators described housing occupancy declines and rising fringe costs as pressures for FY26.
The Missouri Western State University Board of Governors accepted a clean (unmodified) audit opinion for fiscal year 2025 and approved related finance items, administrators said during the board meeting.
Auditors Bobby Kelly and Michael Flaxard summarized the external review to the personnel, finance and operations committee and the full board, confirming a clean audit opinion with no significant findings. "Very positive audit results," the auditors told governors.
Following committee recommendations, the board approved the FY2025 audit report and the September 30, 2025 financial report by voice vote. Vice President Daniel Holt then briefed the board on first‑quarter FY26 financials (numbers presented as of Sept. 30): tuition and fees were reported at roughly 51.8% of budget (52% is the typical target), tuition revenue was described as up nearly 2% year‑over‑year (a figure speakers referenced as roughly $293,000), and operating revenues were reported at about $21,071,551 (~46.1% to budget). Holt warned that auxiliary revenue shortfalls—housing at ~41.8% and food service at ~38.7% of budget—are tied to lower on‑campus occupancy (reported at about 48% this semester), citing approximately 137 fewer students in beds than the previous fall.
Holt also reported expense pressures: total expenses up ~3.8% year‑over‑year driven by people costs, with a fringe‑benefit rate running about 45.1% (higher than budgeted estimates). He described utilities, travel and insurance as in expected ranges and said the university had locked in gas prices for winter.
Board action on tuition for the Law Enforcement Academy: the board approved an amendment to the 2025–2026 tuition schedule for the Law Enforcement Academy, changing the in‑state per‑credit rate of $382 to a flat program fee of $7,176 and the out‑of‑state per‑credit rate of $416 to a flat fee of $7,788 for the January 2026 cohort; the motion carried by voice vote.
What to watch: administration flagged a year‑to‑year decline in cash position and ongoing monitoring of fringe and salary pressures. Holt said the university had about $6.28 million in cash in the presented financials (the transcript included one figure with unclear formatting). He recommended continuing procedural changes to improve cash flow and said ERP procurement and some capital projects are being budgeted for future years.
Quotations: "We confirmed the clean or unmodified audit opinion," Bobby Kelly said. "We feel pretty confident" about tuition targets for the year but "we'll be watching these numbers closely," Holt added.
Next steps: the administration said it will continue monitoring FY26 performance, update the board at future meetings and implement the approved tuition change for the Law Enforcement Academy's January cohort.
