Arkansas State University System institutions expect to receive more in state revenue than they budgeted for this spring as a result of better-than-expected tax revenue statewide, President Chuck Welch told system trustees Friday.
Many of Arkansas' public colleges and universities budgeted for only two of the four revenue categories, fearing that the coronavirus pandemic would prevent the state from distributing funds from the other categories.
During the past fiscal year, which ended June 30, money flowed from only those two categories -- categories A and B -- which comprise the large majority of state allocations to public colleges each year.
But Welch is confident that "Category C" revenue will be available. For this fiscal year, that means as much as $2.8 million for ASU, down to $173,544 for Arkansas State University-Three Rivers. Henderson State University, which is to join the ASU System next year, would get $947,525.
Those amounts range from about 3% to 4.5% of what the Arkansas Division of Higher Education projected earlier this year for the colleges, a projection that assumed that money would flow from all categories.
"That obviously bodes very well for all of our campuses moving forward," Welch told trustees.
Welch also anticipates "Category D" funding to come through, but he has told institutions not to plan on that. The amount of Category D funding is the same as in Category C.
Statewide, those two categories represent $75.5 million for Arkansas' public colleges, universities, technical centers and additional academic units.
While Welch is fairly confident about the money from the state government, he's less certain what colleges will get -- and when they will get it -- from a second federal stimulus package related to the pandemic.
"Everyone feels comfortable that there will be a second package," he said, but that could be one package or multiple phases of a stimulus program.
"Really all of that is very speculative right now," he said.
Arkansas colleges and universities received more than $120 million in the first stimulus, the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act bill passed this spring.
At least half of that had to be used for assistance for students, and institutions could use the rest to cover the cost of the transition to remote learning.
Residential colleges in Arkansas lost millions of dollars in expected housing and dining revenue when courses shifted to being taught remotely this spring, but the main type of grant that institutions received from the stimulus could not be used to cover those shortfalls.
ASU spent nearly $2 million of the stimulus funds to transition to a new way of teaching this spring, summer and fall, and to purchase personal protective equipment. While the university revived in-person learning in late summer, courses for the remainder of the fall term post-Thanksgiving are online.
ASU Chancellor Kelly Damphousse told trustees that the university will beef up its pandemic safety accommodations even more during the coming spring term, anticipating the need for more classroom space and more in-person learning. The university will open up the armory on campus as a classroom.