Copyright M Live Michigan
FLINT, MI — The University of Michigan Board of Regents on Thursday noted its $15.6 billion budget for the 2026 fiscal year. This comes after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed long-delayed Michigan budget bills for 2025-2026 into law on Tuesday, Oct. 7, several days after the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1. UM is expecting student tuition revenues and financial aid funding to increase, consistent with previous years. There are drastic decreases to other items, like federal funding and to the university’s medical arm. Here are 10 takeaways from the university’s budget for this fiscal year: Tuition and fees The university is expecting a $145 million revenue increase from student tuition and fees, totaling $2.592 billion this fiscal year. Financial aid UM plans to allocate $1 billion of its budget into financial aid. This is an increase of $42 million from the previous fiscal year. There is a $13.9 million increase specifically to undergraduate financial aid. Federal and state-sponsored funding UM predicts a $163 million decrease in funding from federally sponsored programs and a $61 million funding decrease from state- and locally sponsored programs. University Housing University Housing predicts a $13 million increase in both revenue and expenditures this fiscal year. Net revenues The budget book cites a $79 million increase in net revenue and a $242 million increase in net expenditures at the Ann Arbor campus. There could be an $8.869 million increase in revenue at the Dearborn campus, according to the budget, and a $13.184 million increase in revenue at the Flint campus. UM Interim President Domenico Grasso applauded the Flint campus’ continued enrollment increase during the Oct. 16 meeting in Flint. “It’s gratifying to know that UM-Flint is making a critical difference in people’s lives, which in-turn benefits the community and beyond,” said Grasso, who plans to visit Flint again in early December. Michigan Medicine Leaders anticipate a $669 million increase in revenue in this fiscal year at Michigan Medicine, according to the latest budget book UM Medical School But the university is predicting a $34.4 million decrease in its 2026 budget for the UM Medical School. Architecture school The UM A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning predicts a $5 million decrease in funding the lowest since the 2022 fiscal year. Michigan Athletics Michigan Athletics will add approximately $26.7 million in new expenses related to student-athlete revenue sharing and scholarships. The Athletic Department is receiving $15 million in non-general fund support from the university to balance its budget, as there are only six home football games this year. “The financial outlook for Athletics is highly dependent on the number of home football games,” officials said in the budget book. Research units University research units, which include the Institute for Social Research, Life Sciences Institute and Institute for Research on Women and Gender, will have a $3.6 million budget, a $2.4 million decrease since last fiscal year. The Trump administration’s efforts to cut federal research funding for diversity and equity initiatives, as well as the U.S. Agency for International Development, has cut off tens of millions of dollars in promised funding from Michigan’s public universities. Read more: Michigan universities have lost millions in grant funding. They could lose billions more. Research funding cuts have disturbed UM faculty and administrators. Meanwhile, the university has raised over $4 billion as part of its Look to Michigan fundraising campaign, UM spokesperson Kay Jarvis said Sept. 4. The school has reached 57% of its larger $7 billion goal, Jarvis said at the time. The university publicly launched Look to Michigan, originally known as Vision 2034, in October 2024 as a donation plan to support its three UM campuses, Michigan athletics, its Michigan Medicine academic medical center and more. In Michigan, the final budget passed by state lawmakers includes increased funding for state public universities, including $373.4 million to UM-Ann Arbor, $32.7 million to UM-Dearborn and $27.7 million to UM-Flint. The legislative deal drew criticism for shifting well more than $1 billion to higher education from the state’s School Aid Fund, which is typically used to support K-12 education. Read more: Financial aid, college funding hikes: How Michigan’s budget deal impacts higher education Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page.
