Ramsey told an audience of more than 100 people that UofL’s proposed $1.3 billion 2015-16 budget will include a 3 percent salary increase pool for faculty and staff. The proposed budget also includes an across-the-board 3 percent tuition increase and a 3 percent rise in funds available for student financial aid.

Despite a decade without an increase in funding from the state, UofL has continued its upward trajectory, he said. The university’s six-year graduation rate rose last year to 53.4 percent and incoming freshmen had the highest-ever average ACT scores at 25.3, Ramsey said.

“Every year, we continue to graduate more students,” Ramsey said, adding that the university’s goal is a 60 percent six-year graduation rate.

State funding was once the No. 1 income source for UofL, Ramsey said, but in the 2014-2015 fiscal year, it dropped to fifth place.

Ramsey said the university community needs to come together during the upcoming 2016 legislative session, when the biennial budget will be set, to show lawmakers that funding for higher education needs to be a priority.

Find the president’s entire budget presentation here.

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Janet Cappiello covers student success for the Office of Communications and Marketing. She has more than 30 years’ experience in journalism, including working for The Associated Press and magazines such as Vegetarian Times and Sustainability: The Journal of Record. She has been at UofL since 2014.