Indiana University’s budget for the 2026 fiscal year increased by over $133 million from the previous year to $4.534 billion. The increase came despite state and federal funding cuts to the university and a flat in-state undergraduate tuition rate.
Indiana’s state budget bill reduced higher education funding, cutting IU’s appropriations by 5%. Another 5% was withheld by the State Budget Agency, which helps review submitted budget requests and allocate appropriations.
In the new budget, IU Bloomington saw a reduction in employee benefits and travel costs and an increase in financial aid, academic compensation and staff compensation. The budget included a 2% compensation increase for all employees, which is similar to increases between previous years. Research, student support, instruction and public service funding also decreased.
The university announced in May that IU planned to cut over $100 million in expenses from its 2026 operating budget by eliminating unfilled positions, putting a cap on operational expenses and reducing support for non-academic programs. According to the budget document, the $100 million reduction was included in the budget, despite its overall increase.
Also in May, Gov. Mike Braun requested that Indiana public universities hold tuition and fees for in-state undergraduate students flat. Across all its campuses, IU receives nearly $1.7 billion of its funding from student tuition and fees. Out-of-state student and graduate student tuition rates increased marginally.
The new budget is significantly shorter and less detailed than last year’s budget, with the document spanning only 62 pages versus last year’s 377. The account summaries portion of the budget, which details the expenditures of different IU department accounts, was absent.
The Board of Trustees approved the budget in its June meeting, and an IU spokesperson told Indiana Public Media it had planned to release the budget in August “because of additional data finalization following Board of Trustees approval.” It was not made public until Tuesday.
