St. Thomas University Operating and Ancillary Budgets for 2023-24
At its recent meeting, the Board of Governors approved the operating, ancillary, restricted, and capital budgets for 2023-24. These budgets were developed in consultation with a President’s Advisory Committee comprised of representation from faculty, staff, students, and administration. The process also included consultations through a Budget Town Hall and the opportunity to make submissions.
The 2023-24 budget reflects objectives to achieve a balanced budget while maintaining the quality of education and financial sustainability of the university and keeping tuition comparable to universities in the region. It considers revenue and expense factors, as well as continuing to invest in areas that support development. The Operating Budget 2023-24 projects a deficit of $214K on revenues of $33.5M before transfer from internally restricted funds.
The budget incorporates an operating grant increase of 2% (plus a 1.5% conditional increase based on enrollment) from the Provincial Government and a 3% tuition increase ($241 for domestic students and $542 for international students) in the Bachelor of Arts program. University mandatory fees remain the same and a recreation/wellness fee of $25 has been approved which will provide partial funding for fitness, wellness, recreation, and intramural programming and services available to students. This fee also provides students with free access to STU varsity games and events.
Last year, STU had the fourth lowest domestic tuition and sixth lowest international tuition for Arts among 14 regional universities. As well, it continues to provide significant financial support to students in the form of scholarships, bursaries, and awards. For further information, please see tuition and fees.
Operating and Ancillary Budgets Highlights
- Operating Budget revenues are projected to be $33.5M, which includes the operating grant from the provincial government ($13.5M to STU and a fiscal transfer to UNB of $2.1M) and tuition and fees ($15.9M). Other sources of revenue include external grants from government and other sources totaling $937K (government funding contract positions of $823K and indirect research costs of $114K), advancement fundraising, and other miscellaneous revenue sources.
- Academic expenses total $18.6M comprised primarily of salaries and benefits expenditures at $17.6M. Administrative and general expenses total $5.6M with the main component being salaries and benefits of $3.4M.
- The Ancillary Services Budget, covering student residence and conference services, projects a surplus of $7,800 after principal payments on long-term debt of $436K.
Complete budget information is in the Budget Summary Report 2023-24 which may be found here.