State audit: FAMU lost $9.2M in tuition and fees in 2014-2015, mainly due to enrollment drop

FAMU is paying big for the continuing decline in enrollment.

The "Management's Discussion and Analysis" section of the 2014-2015 financial statement audit for FAMU said the enrollment drop caused FAMU to lose millions in tuition and fees in 2014-2015.

“Net student tuition and fees decreased by $9.2 million, or 17.1 percent, as compared to the 2013-2014 fiscal year,” the section said. “This decrease was due primarily to a decline in enrollment.”

FAMU had 10,738 students in Fall 2013. That went down to 10,233 students in Fall 2014 for a loss of 505.

FAMU’s enrollment increased between the fiscal years that ended in 2009 and 2011. But FAMU and many other HBCUs were hurt by stricter eligibility requirements for the federal PLUS Loan program that went into effect in October of 2011 and Pell Grant changes that began that same year. Those changes resulted in thousands of low-income HBCU students being denied this critical source of financial aid and either having to withdraw from school or delay their entry into college.

The federal financial aid program overhaul led FAMU to lose about 2,000 students. Declining state support and rising fees have made the situation even worse for many potential FAMU students.

President Elmira Mangum started her contract at FAMU on April 1, 2014, so she wasn’t in charge of the recruitment for most of the 2013-2014 school year. But enrollment is still going down.

FAMU had 9,920 students in Fall 2015, which was a loss of 313.

North Carolina A&T University is one of the HBCUs that is making steady gains in recovering from the damage caused by the federal financial aid crisis. Its enrollment increased by 1.6 percent in Fall 2014 and 1.2 percent in Fall 2015.