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WKU Regents Approve June 17, 2004 The budget represents a 14.4 percent increase from 2003-04 and includes an increase of $17 million in revenue from tuition and fees. Tuition and fees make up largest source of revenue, accounting for 36 percent of the total budget. State appropriations account for 30.5 percent of the total budget. Since the state does not have an approved budget for 2004-05, the University's budget includes no increase in state appropriation. WKU President Gary Ransdell said he is pleased with the budget given problems caused by rising enrollments and declining state funding. "I'm proud of our progress and our priorities, especially for recruiting and retaining quality faculty and staff," he said."We are improving our business practices, our charitable gift support and our federal earmarks—a number of variables that strengthen our budget. But to go into the next two years and anticipate little or no incremental funding from the state and be able to grow a budget the way we have, and stay priced within our market from a tuition standpoint, I think is a very significant statement of progress for Western." The budget also includes a 3 percent merit pool for salary increases. Dr. Ransdell said that only Kentucky State University had a higher salary increase for faculty and staff at 3.2 percent. "We've really moved up in the pecking order when you compare our faculty and staff salaries to other universities in the state," he said. "We're still lagging our benchmarks, which is a more aggressive peer group from a salary standpoint."
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