An additional $1.3 million will be added to American University’s budgetary shortfall, totaling an approximate $33 million deficit, according to an email sent Feb. 2 sent to the AU community by Vicky Wilkins, the University’s acting provost and chief academic officer, and Bronté Burleigh-Jones, the University’s chief financial officer and treasurer.
The additional shortfall was due to spring graduate program enrollments being lower than anticipated. Wilkins and Burleigh-Jones wrote that AU is closely watching the budget, with expenses such as travel and supplies being monitored.
This comes after the University predicted a $30 million deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year last October.
Wilkins and Burleigh-Jones continued to emphasize collaboration with faculty, staff and students in the University budget forums, writing that, “this shortfall is still manageable if we collectively exercise thoughtful and judicious spending for the remainder of the fiscal year,” adding that the University has successfully used this approach in the past and “everyone has helped it succeed in meeting our budget needs.”
The University will host additional budget forums, with dates to be announced in March, before a further assessment in May.
Correction: A previous version of this article used the word dollar in the headline. The article has been updated to include the dollar sign in accordance with AP style.
This article was edited by Tyler Davis, Abigail Turner and Abigail Pritchard. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks and Isabelle Kravis.
