After more than 50 days of a sustained strike that suspended campus activities altogether, students at the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras campus voted to end the protest on Monday. Classes are expected to begin again next week.
Students were protesting proposed budget cuts that many say would greatly impact the university’s ability to deliver on its mission. As Puerto Rico seeks to resolve its public debt of more than $70 billion, UPR’s government subsidy is on the chopping block.
The fiscal control board instated by Congress to rectify the island’s finances has proposed reducing the annual government subsidy to the university by $450 million in five years, representing a reduction of more than half of what it currently receives. Over the past four years, the university has received $833.9 million annually.
“The biggest cuts from the public budget are going to be on the shoulders of the university,” said Ana Matanzo Vicens, professor at the UPR School of Law.
To date, UPR has been the source of an affordable education for thousands of Puerto Ricans. It is regarded as a vibrant institution of public education on the island, contributing in a vital way to the Puerto Rican economy.
UPR’s budget would face significant reduction as early as next year. In the fiscal control board’s most recent budget proposal, UPR would see a $202 million cut next year. The university has few options with which make up the difference — it has an endowment of approximately $110 million and relatively limited alumni giving. Raising tuition would not solve the problem, particularly since projected fall enrollments are down in the wake of the turmoil.
“The public university’s budget as we know it up until now is going to be drastically transformed,” Matanzo said.
