How universities in Kansas and Missouri were impacted by enrollment and budget shortfalls

The pandemic has presented a two-sided coin to the four big public universities in Kansas and Missouri. On one side, the dire enrollment predictions of the summer turned out better — in one case, much better — than expected.

But on the flip side, falling revenues are still a problem administrators will have to deal with for the foreseeable future, due largely to the loss of money coming in from big events, student-facing services and state funding.

Last spring, university officials fresh from the spring break shutdowns were warily predicting major enrollment drops for fall semester. As summer began, most were still assessing whether students would be willing to attend in person in the fall and devising ways to make campus safe if they did.

The University of Kansas and Kansas State University officials said during a May Board of Regents meeting that enrollment could be off as much as 8-10%, perhaps even more. Some national surveys estimated even bigger declines.

Read more: https://thebeacon.media/stories/2020/12/21/how-universities-in-kansas-and-missouri-were-impacted-by-enrollment-and-budget-shortfalls/