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ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 3437 • Posted: Tuesday May 27, 2003  

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Officials Report School Is Doing Well
NBC30.com, May 27, 2003
http://www.nbc30.com/

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — The University of Bridgeport, which nearly closed in 1991 because of money problems, expects next month to adopt its first balanced budget in 13 years without funding from the Unification Church.

University President Neil Salonen told the Connecticut Post that the school’s Board of Trustees plans to adopt a balanced budget on June 13. He said the budget makes due without support from the Professors World Peace Academy, which has given $110 million to the university over the past dozen years.

Salonen once served as president of the academy, which is funded by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church.

“We’re going to be standing on our own,” Salonen said.

With the sagging economy producing less state support for public colleges nationwide and shrinking endowments for private schools, the University of Bridgeport is seeking firm financial ground. School officials are hoping a tuition increase and money from the college’s endowment, which is only a few hundred thousand dollars, will help balance the books.

UB has seen enrollment slowly climb from a low of 1,383 students in 1992 to 3,173 students this year, including 834 full-time graduates. Enrollment is not as high as some would like, but early indications for the fall freshmen class look promising, the newspaper reported. Whether expected enrollment increases will be offset by fewer international students — given tighter visa restrictions, the sour economy and now severe acute respiratory syndrome — remains to be seen.

Up to 40 percent of UB students are international. Chinese students are UB’s second highest international population. Self-sufficiency is a goal because the university can’t borrow money or be treated like its peers as long as it’s being subsidized, Salonen said.

Salonen would not provide details of the new budget, except to say there are no plans to eliminate any programs. “I’m not going to say anything until the board adopts the budget June 13. There are a couple of options and I don’t know where it’s all going to come down,” he said.

Tuition next year at UB is going up about $700 — to $23,000 for full-time freshmen living on campus. But the cost of attending UB will remain less than that of many private universities. Earlier this spring, the university also advertised to fill several faculty positions.

There are mixed feelings around campus about university leaders’ plans. A recent announcement that students would be consolidated into fewer dorms this summer set off rumors that dorms were being closed for good.

Salonen said the school will use the summer to install high-speed Internet access, cable television and wiring for micro-fridges into dorms. He promised they will reopen in the fall.

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