At a December 2024 Board of Trustees meeting, quarterly financial and treasury reports shown to the trustees were lower than previous financial projections following the fall census date.
Final enrollment for first-year students following the census date was 5,113, the second-largest class in UO’s history. However, numbers indicated there were 450 fewer nonresident students than initially anticipated. This resulted in a $2.3 million reduction in expected revenue for the fiscal year.
Initial projections from June 2024 showed that the forecasted tuition and fee revenue was $15.1 million. In September, these long-term projections were reduced to a gain of $7.8 million. Based on Quarter One information, those projections were finalized to estimate a $2.3 million shortfall, making the total revenue for tuition and fees $5.5 million.
This was due to the incoming first-year cohort mix, or the fewer nonresident students. However, revenue is projected in long-term estimations to remain up, in the amount of $3.8 million because of circumstances such as students taking higher-than-average credit loads.
Nonresident students pay $44,598 in annual tuition and fees compared to resident students’ $16,137. Nonresident tuition has consistently gone up for incoming cohorts. For example, going from $44,341.41 in 2022 to $47,388.57 in 2024.
According to Brian Fox, the associate vice president for budget, financial analysis and data analytics, non-resident undergraduate tuition was 61% of that total net tuition revenue during the last fiscal year.
“Nonresident enrollment — and tuition — is a significant revenue source for the university,” Fox said. “Net tuition revenue, after scholarships, last fiscal year was approximately 77% of the university’s general operating budget.”
According to Fox, the Office of Admissions and the data team within Student Service and Enrollment Management monitors metrics like applications and student interest in order to forecast the size of a class for the incoming fall. This process is completed for both resident and nonresident student groups. Official enrollment is calculated using the fourth week census date.
According to Fox, this process is done consistently every term so that the university is able to have comparable data over time. The data produced is also used for federal and state reporting purposes.
Fox also said enrollment fluctuates frequently, citing that nonresident enrollment during fall of 2024 was lower than fall of 2023, but current levels are above enrollment levels several years ago.
Scholarships have an impact on the total revenue, but Fox said that scholarship programs have a direct impact on overall increased enrollment.
