The Council on University Planning and Budget discussed the state of Eastern’s budget, the number of international students on campus and elected a new chair.

Budget Talk

Eastern, as it stands for fiscal year 2019, exceeded its budget by $1.4 million, but Paul McCann, the vice president of business affairs, said this will be offset by the additional revenue received from higher enrollment.

For FY19, Eastern’s budget was $75.5 million; that represents the total combined educational assistance and income funds, according to the appropriated line item status report. The expended costs were $76.8 million, and the unobligated balance is $1.4 million, which is what McCann said the university is over budget by.

McCann explained the state of Eastern’s budget during a Council on Planning and Budget Friday afternoon. He gave a rundown on where money comes from (appropriated funds, income funds and local funds) and where it is allocated.

Appropriated funds, which is the money allocated from Springfield, is the primary source of everyday money that is used to run the university. Income funds are tuition and fee money and local funds are basically student fees and revenue bonds, which is housing, dining, the Student Recreation Center, Textbook Rental or the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union, McCann said.

But for FY19, he said one of the things the university benefited from a year ago is the increase in students coming in, which helps offset the increase in expended costs, or what the university has spent year to date.

“We got some additional revenue, so that more than offsets this increase in costs,” McCann said.

McCann said most of the increase is a result from personal services, but he said the university is in a good place right now for the first time in a couple of years.

He said the budget is close to representing final numbers.

International Students

There were 205 international students that were accepted to Eastern but could not attend the university because the U.S. denied them visas.   

Eastern President David Glassman made the announcement at a Council on Planning and Budget meeting Friday but said the total number of international students living on campus increased slightly. 

According to a press release sent out on Tenth Day, the international student population increased by 10 students, from 322 in Fall 2018 to 332 in Fall 2019. 

“Our total population of international students right now is 332 students; that’s not the most we’ve ever had. We’ve been over 400 before,” Glassman said. 

However, Glassman said this small increase does come as good news since there were so many other students who could not attend Eastern and other institutions.

He also said that one of his goals he had when he first became president was to increase the international student population to 500 students, something that he said Eastern is getting close to. 

“I can only imagine the number of international students and the size of our population and what it would be had students been able (to come),” Glassman said. “Can you imagine the 332 we have today and the 205 that were turned down … we’d be right at the population size that I think is best suited for our campus, right around 500 students.”

The international student population also represents 61 countries, something Eastern has not seen, Glassman said.

The CUPB also elected Peggy Brown, the administrative assistant in the School of Extended Learning, as the new chair for this school year. 

Analicia Haynes can be reached at 581-2812 or achaynes@eiu.edu.