University budgets are complex. This series breaks that complexity down.
Each week, UO Workplace news, the employee newsletter, publishes a new installment of UO Finances, a short, plain-language look at how the UO budget works: where money comes from, what drives costs, and what the numbers mean for our work. Those installments are collected here as a running reference.
UO Finances 101: Revenue sources – Where does the money come from?
- The UO is a complex organization and runs many operations, those outside the core academic and administrative functions have separate funds. The core academic and administrative functions are within the primary operating budget, the Education & General (E&G) Fund.
- The largest revenue sources within the E&G fund are state appropriations and tuition with undergraduate tuition being the primary source.
- Over time, state appropriations have declined, increasing the university’s dependence on tuition, particularly nonresident tuition.
- If two students enroll—one paying in-state tuition and one paying out-of-state tuition—they both increase our enrollment. But they do not contribute the same amount of revenue. That’s why the mix of students matters, not just total enrollment.
The UO is increasingly reliant on tuition revenue, particularly nonresident undergraduate tuition.
Next — UO Finances 102: Focus on Enrollment
The next edition in the UO Finances series will help you understand enrollment strategy and its relationship to tuition revenue.