Ohio University braces for budget cuts Dispatch file photo - Mary Beth Lane, Columbus Dispatch

Ohio University administrators are proposing that the board of trustees approve an approximately $720 million operating budget for the 2017-18 academic year that includes unspecified cuts. The trustees are scheduled to meet Thursday and Friday at the university’s Zanesville campus. Factors including the anticipated imposition of a tuition freeze in the new two-year state budget and a decline in the number of freshmen enrolled for the fall semester on the Athens campus have contributed to the budget challenges, according to budget documents prepared for the trustees. Among total expected undergraduate enrollment of 24,020 in Athens for fall semester, 4,109 are freshmen, 200 fewer than fall 2016. The university’s regional campuses expect 8,350 undergraduates in the fall, also a slight decline from the enrollment in fall 2016. http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170619/ohio-university-braces-for-budget-cuts