The University of Maine is slimming its budget by $5.6 million and laying off “fewer than 10” staff members in the next fiscal year, an email sent by UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy on Tuesday revealed.
The email, which was sent to UMaine and UMaine at Machias employees, is the first look at what cuts the university will make after announcing departments needed to reduce their budgets by 7%. It does not show every aspect of the proposed budget, which will be made public next week, according to the email.
UMaine is facing an $18 million budget shortfall, more than $1 billion in deferred maintenance costs on its campus and an expected drop in federal research funding, spokesperson Samantha Warren said.
The cuts come at a time when colleges and universities across the country are terminating whole departments or programs and laying off faculty and staff due to low student enrollment and revenue. The UMaine System has successfully prepared for shrinking enrollment figures, even touting its highest enrollment since 2021, but these cuts show UMaine is facing economic challenges similar to other universities.
It’s unclear if all the departments made 7% cuts, but the university’s colleges and leaders “enabled us to present the System with the balanced budget required for our university,” Ferrini-Mundy said in the email that outlined UMaine’s proposed budget.
The $5.6 million in cuts are said to be part of “ongoing reductions” to operating budgets, according to the email. Ferrini-Mundy pointed out that the university is not undergoing retrenchment, or reducing programs or services and laying off or firing faculty. The cuts will result in “fewer than 10 staff layoffs,” according to the email.
An exact number of how many staff members would be laid off, or what departments they work in, was not provided.
Other cost savings were laid out in the email, including increased funding and positions going unfilled.
Nearly $6 million will be taken out of the budget by retirements and other openings continuing to be unfilled and gift and grant funding being used, according to the email.
“We recognize the challenges of retirements and some positions going unfilled, including a minimal loss of credit hours, though this proposed attrition level is consistent with FY26,” the email reads.
There was no information on what positions will not be filled or what gift funds will be used. Details about what specific positions will be affected will not be shared until after employees are contacted, Warren said.
An increase in state appropriations added $2.3 million to UMaine’s books. The email doesn’t outline what the funding will be used for.
A “strategic one-time use of reserves” is briefly mentioned in the email, but how much funding will be used or how it will be used is not explained.
The budget proposal reflects a projected 2.6% decrease in credit hours in the coming year, Ferrini-Mundy said. Despite a drop in credit hours, more than 14,000 students have been admitted to UMaine and UMaine Machias before the coming school year, Ferrini-Mundy said.
Meetings, workshops and votes on the budget will be held from March to May, ending with a Board of Trustees meeting on May 18.
Ferrini-Mundy said she was pleased with how system leaders received the proposal and how the budget sets the university up for the future.
“This FY27 budget proposal is not simply a financial plan — it is a promise. It reflects our shared commitment as Maine’s flagship university to serve the people of this state — including our more than 10,000 students and 2,200 regular employees — and well beyond with excellence, innovation, and integrity,” Ferrini-Mundy said.