Missouri-St. Louis plans layoffs as budget problems grow

ST. LOUIS -- The University of Missouri-St. Louis plans layoffs this year in response to a $15 million budget deficit.

Chancellor Thomas George says the number of layoffs has not been determined. The school also expects retirements and will close some open jobs.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the budget problems are due in part to an unexpected 4 percent drop in enrollment in November. The school is cautiously estimating another 2 percent enrollment decline in the fall.

"Our financial situation hasn't changed since (November)," George said. "We're just now being more conservative in our projections because we haven't been in the past."

Spokesman Bob Samples says the enrollment is dropping because of less state funding in the last five years and a steady drop in transfer students. The school's student body is about 75 percent transfer students, and the number of transfer students has dropped from 1,972 in 2012, to 1,556 this school year.

The school enrolls many students from community colleges, but the university recently put in place a new policy that which has affected the number of community-college transfers. Transfer students from community colleges now need a 2.3 grade-point average to enroll, instead of a 2.0. St. Louis Community College, the closest two-year school to the University of Missouri-St. Louis, also is in the midst of a 25-year enrollment declining, further affecting transfers.

Details on the impending layoffs and a revised budget are expected to be announced in the late spring.