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Purdue to ask state for slight increase in budget

Purdue will submit its budget request to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (ICHE) in two weeks.

Administrators are using the numbers the commission provided, which are based on a Performance Funding Formula. That system rewards public universities for such things as overall degree completion and on-time graduation rates.

Executive Vice President and Treasurer Al Diaz says Purdue is requesting $313.4 million in operating funds from the state. That’s less than half a percent increase from this year’s appropriation.

"What we're hopeful for is there's an opportunity to talk about some increases beyond where we are right now. Rather than talk about whether we're asking for a lot, it's really an opportunity to talk about what we think we need and what we can do for the state."

The budget request includes increases for line-items, such as Agriculture Research and Extension, and the Technical Assistance Program.

Diaz says Purdue, Ivy Tech and Vincennes University also are proposing a new “Indiana Next Generation Manufacturing Competitiveness Center.”

"It might be that there's no opportunity to do that, but we wanted to propose it because we think it's an important initiative. The same is true for the other line-items. So, we think there's an opportunity to improve the service we provide to the state of Indiana."

Diaz says under the performance based system, Purdue’s regional campuses are losing funds. He says that is partly due to performance, but also could be a problem with the system. The West Lafayette campus would receive a 1% increase under the current funding formula.

Purdue administrators will formally present the budget request before ICHE October 19 in West Lafayette.