The University System of Georgia (USG) Board of Regents (BOR) recently voted to allocate $484 million in state appropriations to Georgia Tech for fiscal year 2024 (FY24) — a 6% increase over last year. This opened the door for Georgia Tech leadership to prioritize areas of investment and finalize allocations for the upcoming fiscal year.  

Overall, the USG’s FY24 budget included a $66 million decrease in state funding which will affect teaching budgets across the state. Georgia Tech’s portion of the decrease is roughly $10 million, which was based on its share of state appropriations among the 26 USG institutions.   

Additionally, the BOR is maintaining tuition and mandatory student fees at current levels for most USG institutions, including Georgia Tech, in the 2023-24 academic year.  

In light of limited new funding, Georgia Tech leadership, along with the Administration and Finance Dean’s Council, Budget Advisory Committee, and Institute Budget Planning and Administration, has worked to ensure that funds are conservatively and strategically allocated.     

“Now more than ever, it is important for us to demonstrate our commitment to financial stewardship, ensuring that every dollar is spent in a timely manner and invested to support our students, mission, and strategic plan,” said Jim Fortner, vice president for Finance and Planning and interim chief financial officer. “We prioritized our allocations to enable us to continue to advance our instructional, research, and service missions, and prioritize our people, growth, and performance.”  

The following Q&A with Jamie Fernandes, executive director for Institute Budget Planning and Administration, provides additional details on the FY24 budget, including revenue sources, where funds are being allocated, and how leadership prioritized allocations.    

How will state earnings and increased tuition revenue affect Georgia Tech?   

We are grateful to the BOR and the state for our formula earnings, which generated an additional $21.3 million for FY24. In addition to these formula earnings, we project a $7.9 million increase in tuition revenue associated with enrollment growth and $3 million growth in our indirect cost recoveries.  With this growth, we did not have to consider a budget reduction in FY24, and we were able to allocate funds for the Institute’s highest priorities.  

What are some of the key campus allocations for FY24?  

They are focused on three primary areas: people, growth, and performance.   

Supporting Students, Faculty, and Staff ($17.6M) 

• $13.1 million to assist with cost-of-living adjustment funding.  

• $3.9 million for faculty and staff retention and compression, strategic hires, and faculty promotion and tenure.   

• $670,000 to subsidize graduate student's’ health insurance.   

Facilitating Growth ($13.8M) 

• $5.1 million to support instruction, including new tenure and non-tenure track faculty lines.   

• $5.6 million to support faculty research and related indirect cost expenses.   

• $1.7 million to support previous growth in class sizes and course sections.   

• $1.4 million for Development initiatives.   

Improving Performance and Reinforcing Compliance ($2.2M) 

• $1.4 million for facility contract increases and Maintenance and Operations expenditures.   

• $800,000 for memberships, background checks, and other compliance activities.   

What were the determining factors in how allocations were prioritized once the budget was approved?  

The limited new funds available required careful prioritization by leadership. We worked with our budget governance committees to prioritize planned expenditures to enable us to continue to advance our instructional, research, and service missions. 

Additional information on the FY24 budget, including allocations, will be provided as it becomes available.