University of Arizona still working to recover from $240M budget shortfall

PHOENIX — The University of Arizona is updating the Arizona Board of Regents on its financial status as it heads into summer break.

On Thursday, the Tucson school’s chief financial officer gave a presentation to ABOR, the board that governs the state’s three public universities.

John Arnold explained that fiscal years 2025 and 2026 will still be considered transitional years as the school gets back on its feet after a $240 million budget shortfall was reported in November 2023.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever walked into a fiscal year with more unknowns than the fiscal year we’re walking into right now,” he told ABOR.

University of Arizona aims to be transparent about budget situation

Arnold said the university is working to communicate with the public about its financial situation and the cuts it is making.

“We developed a plan of budget that we’ve released to our community that assumes a little over a 2% cut for our academic structure and about a 7% cut for administrative structure,” he said.

The board focused on UofA’s current cash balance, which Arnold said is below the suggested levels.

“We’re projecting 76 days [below cash balance] for this year. Next year, we’re going to project 77. And that’s about the best we can do in these circumstances. … That’s about a 70 days cash-on-hand gap. Every day is between $7 million and $8 million,” he said.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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