With total fall enrollment down about 2 percent, MSU Denver is facing an estimated $2 million budgetary shortfall—a shortfall the University has prepared for.

“We don’t foresee making any departmental reductions this year,” explains Natalie Lutes, vice president of administration, finance and facilities. “But this does mean that we might exhaust available funds in our institutional reserve.”

According to Lutes, MSU Denver began setting aside funds in 2010 as a hedge against the volatile economy and changing enrollment trends. Because University enrollment numbers are still being finalized, she says she won’t know the extent of the shortfall until later this month.

Lutes says the dip in enrollment is due to many factors, among them changing demographics and an improving job market.

In his Welcome Back address on Sept. 6, President Stephen Jordan acknowledged the dip in enrollment and mentioned additional forces with the potential to impact the budget, such as future enrollment decreases, state revenues and caps on tuition increases as articulated in the University’s Financial Accountability Plan.

“While there is no need to panic,” he said, “we do need to be concerned. I have tasked my leadership team to continue strategic conversations and work with their areas on developing a set of short- and long-term recommendations to address this shortfall in enrollment.”