UNR NEWS RELEASE
Will allow redirection of student per-credit fee to campus-wide capital projects that directly benefit students
In March, University of Nevada, Reno President Marc Johnson will present a debt reduction plan to the Board of Regents for the $24 million capital debt on the Fire Science Academy in Carlin. If approved, the plan will free up $4.10 of the $6.50 per-credit capital-improvement fee that students pay and redirect these monies to capital programs funds that directly benefit students.
Students pay a per-credit, capital-improvement fee of which $6.50 is currently used entirely toward the Academy’s debt service. The University’s Fire Science Academy closed in December, but its capital debt carries forward.
“This situation must be addressed and improved,” Johnson said. “This plan will allow us to redirect much of the capital-improvement fee paid by students to support investment in campus-wide capital improvements funds and projects that directly benefit all 18,000 students.”
The debt buy-down plan includes proceeds from the sale of the Academy to the Nevada Division of State Lands and the allocation of funds from other University assets, already approved by the Board of Regents. Through this plan, the Academy’s capital debt will be reduced to $6.5 million. Johnson noted the University is committed to paying this remaining amount down and freeing up the remaining $2.40 of the $6.50 per-credit fee for other projects as soon as possible.
At the Regents’ March meeting, the University will also request to use funds realized through the 2005 sale of the Mill and McCarran property for site restoration costs associated with the sale of the Fire Science Academy. This proposal is consistent with prior actions by the Regents and supports the continued buy-down of the Academy’s debt.
The Board of Regents meeting is March 1-2 at the College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas.
Nevada’s land-grant university founded in 1874, the University of Nevada, Reno has an enrollment of 18,000 students and is ranked in the top tier of the nation’s best universities. Part of the Nevada System of Higher Education, the University has the system’s largest research program and is home to the state’s medical school. With outreach and education programs in all Nevada counties and with one of the nation’s largest study-abroad consortiums, the University extends across the state and around the world. For more information, visit www.unr.edu.
