Enrolment and budget update
Message sent to UVic faculty and staff on Oct. 27, 2023
Dear colleagues,
We’re writing to provide an enrolment and budget update on the current fiscal year (2023/24) and planning for next year (2024/25). While we don’t normally communicate on budget at this time of year, we understand many of you have questions given the budget reduction that was put in place at the start of this fiscal year.
Enrolment and tuition
Our international student enrolment numbers have not yet recovered or returned to sustainable levels, which will take more time. A smaller entering class one year persists throughout the time those students are enrolled, so for 4–5 years. UVic’s international undergraduate enrolment this year is estimated to be 1,670 FTE, compared to our target of 2,130 FTE—the lowest it has been in 10 years. The good news is that we are seeing a reversal of this trend as new incoming classes are growing.
Our domestic enrolment has recovered and is at its highest level to date (14,739 FTE on a target of 14,198 FTE), despite fewer student applicants this year. This is thanks to strategic investments in entrance scholarships as well as significant efforts within the faculties and in Student Affairs to encourage student applicants to register and make high-demand courses more available. Graduate enrolment is also tracking well, ahead of previous years, thanks in part to our research reputation and the quality of our faculty and graduate programs.
While enrolments relative to targets roughly even out between domestic and international with respect to the overall number of students at UVic, the tuition impact is a $10 million reduction in revenue. This is because the average domestic undergraduate student pays about $6,200 in annual tuition while an international undergraduate student pays about $30,000. Despite this tuition shortfall, we are forecasting that we will avoid an institutional deficit by drawing from our remaining enrolment contingency fund and higher than expected investment income.
For this current fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, UVic is not planning any further budget reductions, nor are we planning to implement a hiring pause and review process. We will also not draw down on departmental carry-forward accounts. Unit leaders will manage their internal budgets as they normally do. We do not, however, have any new funding to allocate this year due to our significant tuition revenue shortfall.
Future planning
We know that steady and reliable enrolments and the associated tuition revenue are essential to our academic and research mission and to the wellbeing and security of our faculty and staff. Our offices are working closely with Deans and other campus leaders to rebuild international enrolments and tuition and to further diversify revenue.
We expect that our new partnership with the global recruitment agency Kaplan and their expanded recruitment network will help us to attract international students from a more diverse range of countries. We are also developing professional programs and micro-credentials that will attract new learners. To build on these initiatives and to incentivize growth, work is also underway on evolving our institutional budget model, which should increase transparency and provide more resources for budget decision makers in the future.
We know too that all of you, in each of your roles, contribute to the financial sustainability of our university—from delivering outstanding education and ensuring a positive student experience, to contributing to world-class research that puts UVic on the map, to branding, fundraising and so much more. Distinctly UVic, our new strategic plan, and W̱ ȻENEṈISTEL, our new Indigenous plan, help articulate our commitments and what makes us distinct.
We plan to update you on budget again in the spring term, following discussions with the Board of Governors and in the context of our Planning and Budget Framework. We also have an FAQ on our budget website that we’ll add to as questions arise.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Croft, Vice-President Academic and Provost
Kristi Simpson, Vice-President Finance and Operations
FAQs
UVic is responsible for the financial stewardship of over $700 million in total annual revenues. To enhance accountability, budgetary control, and oversight of resources, UVic maintains separate funds for its diverse activities.
The general operating budget includes the general operations for the university—everything from salaries and benefits to scholarships and bursaries to keeping the lights on. It is composed of two parts: general operating revenue and general operating expenditures. Total operating revenue for 2023/24 is projected at $488 million.
Other funds separate from the operating budget include sponsored research, ancillary operations, specific purpose, and capital.
Operating costs for the university are funded from two main sources: government grants, which account for 54% of projected revenues in 2023/24; and student fees (tuition), which account for 35%. Department revenue, other grants and contracts, federal grants and investments make up the remaining percentage of revenue.
Tuition from international students make up approximately 37% of total tuition revenue, whereas international student enrolment comprises 17% of student FTE.
Annually, approximately 80% of UVic's operating budget goes toward salaries and benefits. For 2023/24, we have budgeted 79%. Additional information about UVic’s operating budget is available in the Planning and Budget Framework.
The Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills (PSEFS) sets enrolment targets for UVic based on annualized FTEs, and UVic’s Board of Governors approves our enrolment levels to help meet those targets. UVic’s grant funding, like other post-secondary institutions in BC, is provided by PSEFS based on our domestic enrolment targets. This represents our “PSEFS-funded target,” and we submit a Board-approved “Institutional Accountability Plan and Report” to PSEFS every summer that demonstrates how well we have met those targets.
UVic sets a higher internal target for enrolments for the purpose of its own academic and budget planning, which takes into account undergraduate international students (who are not funded by government and pay full international tuition).
International graduate students are included along with domestic students in the PSEFS graduate targets.
Full-time equivalent (FTE) enrolment is a weighted measure of student enrolment that takes into account course load. This measure is the principal enrolment accountability with the province and determines our funding for domestic students. For undergraduates, the FTE for a particular term is calculated by dividing a student’s total registered units by the expected unit total for that particular program and year level. For full-time graduate students, the term FTE is 1.0. For part-time graduate students, the term is 0.33.
An annualized FTE measures course activity over a 12-month period, beginning with the Summer Session. For an undergraduate, this is the sum of the FTEs for the summer, fall and spring terms. For a graduate student, the annualized FTE is the sum of the three FTEs divided by 3.
No. Government funds up to our domestic enrolment target, which they set. Any additional students enrolled provide only tuition revenue, which is insufficient to cover the full cost of education.
From time to time, UVic works with the BC Government on targeted expansions of programs, which increases our enrolment target and provincial grant. Recent increases have included engineering, computer science, social work, and the nurse practitioner programs.