Chancellor Catherine Provencher of the University System of New Hampshire told the Finance - Division II committee that the system’s enrollment, finances and state support present competing pressures as the Legislature prepares a new budget.

Provencher said the system enrolls about 23,000 students this fall, roughly 83% undergraduates, with the University of New Hampshire accounting for about 69% of the total. She said the system’s fiscal 2024 operating expenses were $928 million, about 20% of which was for research, and that the UNH research enterprise has grown about 75% since fiscal 2019.

The figures matter because state support and student tuition together fund a large share of operating costs and because enrollment declines change the system’s revenue mix. “We graduate about 3,000 folks who enter the New Hampshire workforce every year,” Provencher said, noting a broader figure than the undergraduate-only number the Education Funding Committee previously saw.

Provencher described the system’s FY25 state appropriation as $95 million, of which roughly $81 million goes to buy down in‑state tuition and about $14 million funds statutory programs such as Cooperative Extension and the Agricultural Experiment Station. She said the state subsidy per New Hampshire student is about $7,257 this fiscal year; adding the average net tuition New Hampshire students pay (about $7,000) yields roughly $14,300 in combined state subsidy plus net tuition on average. Nonresident students, she said, pay higher net tuition (about $16,600 on average), producing a revenue differential of roughly $2,300 per student in the system’s favor.

Provencher gave published tuition examples: University of New Hampshire in‑state tuition $15,500 and out‑of‑state $36,170; Plymouth State University in‑state $11,870 and out‑of‑state $22,810; Keene State College in‑state about $11,100 and out‑of‑state $23,810. On-campus housing at UNH for a double room is about $8,536 and a typical meal plan about $5,100, she said. She also said the university system has held in‑state tuition largely flat for recent years while increasing institutional financial aid, producing a decline in average net tuition and fees for New Hampshire students from about $10,500 in 2020 to about $9,800 in the most recent year (tuition and mandatory fees).

Provencher said system enrollment has fallen about 14% since fiscal 2019, driven primarily by demographic declines in the number of high‑school graduates. She noted that this fall’s enrollment was the system’s first increase since 2013 and stressed that projections show the pipeline of college‑age residents shrinking further before recovering.

On staffing and expenses, Provencher said that over a five‑year period, while inflation rose roughly 23%, non‑grant compensation rose only 2%. She said the system reduced full‑time staff by about 5.4% and part‑time staff by about 19% since 2019, has reduced employer retirement contributions (the system operates separately from the New Hampshire Retirement System), adjusted medical benefits and is consolidating space – including moving the system office in Concord to a smaller facility.

Provencher described new investments and partnerships: the system went live on the Workday enterprise resource planning system in December 2021; UNH has the John Olson Advanced Manufacturing Center and other facilities used for workforce development and industry partnerships; and the system and the Community College System of New Hampshire recently announced about 100 transfer pathways to ease student transitions between the systems.

Committee members pressed for follow‑up data. Representatives asked for a detailed breakout of research spending (direct and indirect; federal vs. state), a 10‑year history of the state appropriation used to buy down in‑state tuition and headcount or full‑time‑equivalent metrics, and documentation of housing and fee schedules. Provencher agreed to provide the requested materials through committee staff.

Provencher also warned that the system has modeled multi‑year scenarios, including a proposed 4% cut that would shift the appropriation to about $91.5 million; she said committee members were hearing that proposed cuts could be deeper and that deeper reductions would require “very painful” actions by the system.

The presentation included clarifying exchanges about data definitions (headcount vs. full‑time equivalent) and noted privacy limits on student‑level wage data shared with New Hampshire Employment Security.