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Boston Globe

New budget takes effect in New Hampshire — and the state university system is already feeling it

Chancellor Catherine A. Provencher told stakeholders the board of trustees had built the university system's budget for fiscal year 2026 around the $91 million-per-year that Ayotte had initially proposed. That was already a modest reduction compared to the fiscal year that just ended. But then lawmakers cut deeper, passing a budget with $87 million in fiscal year 2026 and $77 million in fiscal year 2027, a reduction of 15 percent compared to the prior biennium. Get N.H. Morning Report A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up Provencher said she and fellow leaders are committed to seeking cost-savings and 'strategic sources of revenue' to balance their budget. Advertisement 'We know that these are unprecedented times in higher education as we compete for fewer high school graduates and as federal funding for research and student aid is shifting,' she wrote. In her own note to the UNH community, President Elizabeth S. Chilton said leaders must recognize the university will almost certainly be smaller in five years than it is now. Advertisement 'This is a time to decide what our strengths are and how we can invest in those areas in the next chapter of our history,' she wrote, calling for creativity and coordination. In addition to requiring a minimum delay of 120 days before vacancies can be filled with new hires, Chilton said she has asked each academic and administrative unit at UNH to prepare for across-the-board spending reductions of 3 percent to begin this summer. 'While I have said repeatedly that we should try to avoid across-the-board cuts whenever possible, this was the best option available given the urgency of our current fiscal challenges,' she wrote, noting that there will still be 'significant work' ahead for the university system to balance its shrinking budget amid other headwinds. In a message to the Keene State community, President Melinda D. Treadwell noted that leaders are also working with legal counsel to understand the impacts of budget provisions related to While policymakers acknowledged from the outset that this budget cycle would be tighter than those in recent memory, some GOP lawmakers also cited ideological motivations for certain decisions, such as suggesting that cutting university funding would help to curb left-leaning ' Steven Porter can be reached at