To close the $66.1 million shortfall for the fiscal year running July 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007, Rutgers made significant cuts in programs, staff, and services.

Budget Cuts
In making budget cuts, Rutgers recognized the importance of preserving its core instructional mission. Cuts were made in the following areas:

• Administrative units were cut 9.6 percent.
• Academic support functions saw 8.2 percent cuts.
• Instructional units were cut 6.8 percent. 

Personnel

• Laid off 189 staff members. All levels of staff were affected from vice presidents to entry-level staff.
• Eliminated 374 part-time lecturer assignments.
• Did not fill 229 open staff positions.
• Deferred 64 faculty searches.
• Senior administrators did not receive salary increases with savings redirected to student financial assistance.

Nonsalary

• Eliminated $22.3 million in nonsalary expenditures with effects that range from fewer library purchases to less maintenance of facilities.

Impact of These Cuts
The cuts resulted in significant changes to numerous programs. Examples include:

• Canceled 459 course sections.
• Closed programs in French and Korean on the Newark Campus.
• Eliminated the Department of Business Environment and the International Business program at the Rutgers Business School.
• Suspended enrollment in the Ph.D. program in Industrial Relations and Human Resources.
• Reorganized academic advising, financial aid, and other services on the Camden Campus to increase efficiency.
• Closed cashier offices on the Cook/Douglass and Busch campuses.
• Closed Mount Arlington continuous education center.
• Reduced library hours.
• Began phaseout of six intercollegiate varsity sports in New Brunswick: men’s tennis, men’s heavyweight crew, men’s lightweight crew, men’s swimming and diving, men’s fencing, women’s fencing.
• Converted course catalogs, the faculty/staff newspaper, the staff directory, and other publications to electronic format. 
• Reduced physical plant maintenance, including trash pickup and landscaping.
• Reduced maintenance and increased repair times for computing and information technology infrastructure.

Tuition
Despite these reductions and despite efficiencies that have been identified, the university, as a last action, also raised tuition:

• 8 percent increase for in-state undergraduates.
• 10 percent increase for out-of-state undergraduates.
• 10 percent increase for graduate students.

Effects Beyond the University
The negative effects of the budget cuts spread well beyond Rutgers:

• Negative economic multiplier effect as constrained spending by the university and its students trickles down to the New Jersey economy. 
• Negative effect on the university’s competitiveness for federal, corporate, and foundation support at a time when other states are investing in higher education.