The proposal by outgoing University of Puerto Rico (UPR) President Luis Ferrao to pause 64 academic programs was the latest attempt to cut costs and please the Fiscal Control Board (JCF, in Spanish) to secure funds necessary for the university system’s operation, according to communications reviewed by the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI) involving the President, the University Board, and the institution’s Governing Board.
In the press release announcing his resignation on Monday, Ferrao said it was “unacceptable” that “looming draconian measures and fiscal impacts” threatened the university’s “stability and educational mission.” However, on January 30, before the UPR Governing Board, and in November, before the University Board, he said he was willing to reduce academic programs, believing it would generate savings that would allow the JCF to grant access to $102 million reserved in the 2025 budget.
On Monday, Ferrao submitted his resignation to Ricardo Dalmau, the chairman of the institution’s Governing Board. According to a press release, his resignation will become effective on February 15, 2025. A few days before the resignation, student representative Daniel Fernández González requested that the Governing Board withdraw its confidence in Ferrao. However, the vote was postponed to February 20 after the Special Committee for the President’s Evaluation submitted a report on his performance.
The JCF will only release the reserved funds if the UPR meets its requirements for academic innovation, operational efficiency, and financial sustainability. This condition is outlined in the Government of Puerto Rico’s certified budget for fiscal year 2025. The Office of Management and Budget holds the reserved funds, which will be transferred to the UPR “after the successful implementation” of the actions the JCF requested.
The JCF is the operative branch of PROMESA (Puerto Rico Economic Stability, Management and Oversight Act), a federal law approved by the US Congress in 2016 that allows Puerto Rico to restructure its debt and manage its budget.
Ferrao told the Governing Board that the JCF’s demands were one of the factors he considered when asking the rectors of the 11 campuses to evaluate academic programs with less than 10 new students enrolled for three consecutive years. He stated that the request to assess low-enrollment programs also stemmed from studies on Puerto Rico’s population decline, the fiscal impact of declining enrollment, and the educational interests of new students.
To comply with milestone 22 set by the JCF, which focuses on financial sustainability, the UPR must identify alternatives that address financial management, operations, and services offered to students and the university community. According to a presentation he made to the Governing Board, one of the alternatives Ferrao proposed was halting student admissions to low-enrollment undergraduate and associate degree programs.
However, the JCF denied explicitly requiring a moratorium on academic programs as a condition for meeting the milestones in the government’s or the UPR’s Fiscal Plans, accessing the reserved funds, or achieving financial sustainability.
“Achieving financial sustainability can be addressed in various ways,” the JCF told CPI in written statements without specifying the alternatives. The Board has blocked the university system’s access to the $102 million until it presents “a detailed plan on how these funds will support the UPR’s mission for students, faculty, and the community.”
Contrary to what he told the Governing Board and just hours before submitting his resignation on Monday, Ferrao told CPI that his proposal to pause academic programs was not intended to persuade the JCF to release the withheld funds.
“Everything related to the institution is discussed within the university community, in accordance with institutional governance, and is not related to the $102 million nor to meeting the (JCF’s) transformation milestones,” he said in a written statement to CPI.
However, the elimination of low-demand academic programs has indeed been considered a measure to comply with the JCF’s requirements, as documented in the presentation entitled “Transformation of the UPR: Context, Background, and Methodology in the Selection of Actions and Milestone Compliance,” which Ferrao presented to the University Board on November 20.
As part of the measures to optimize academic resources, the university administration proposed reducing “the number of low-demand programs while strengthening those aligned with the emerging needs of students and the industry.” According to official documents, reducing programs would help meet fiscal responsibility and sustainability requirements.
Approval to Close Two Programs in Utuado
On January 13, Ferrao ordered the rectors of the 11 UPR campuses to halt student admissions to 64 bachelor’s and associate degree programs.
Two days later, he notified the Middle States Commission on Higher Education that this semester would mark the beginning of a process to evaluate the financial sustainability of the 11 campuses.
Multiple sectors of the university community opposed the measure, arguing that it was unjustified and did not consider transfer students or students pursuing double majors.
Photo by Víctor Rodríguez Velázquez | Centro de Periodismo Investigativo
On January 24, the UPR president reversed the order and allowed student admissions to all academic programs. However, he emphasized that the evaluation of the 64 programs would continue and requested that the rectors complete a second evaluation by May 21.
One recommendation from the first round of evaluations was to close the associate degree programs in Humanities and Agricultural Production Technology, which are both offered at UPR-Utuado, located in the central mountains region of Puerto Rico.
The report from that evaluation states that at least 32 of the programs assessed require curricular review, while 29 need more substantial student recruitment efforts. It also recommends excluding 12 programs from the evaluation process, as they have exceeded 10 enrolled students annually over the past three years.
The university community protested against Ferrao on Wednesday, led by the General Student Council (CGE, in Spanish), the Puerto Rican Association of University Professors, and the Brotherhood of Non-Teaching Exempt Employees.
Sebastián Segarra, president of the CGE at UPR-Utuado, condemned the closure of programs at his campus, arguing that reducing agricultural academic offerings could further distance Puerto Rico from achieving food sustainability.
Photo by Víctor Rodríguez Velázquez | Centro de Periodismo Investigativo
“The agricultural programs they’re trying to eliminate are unique in Puerto Rico. We are facing a food crisis, with the island producing only 15% of its food. Without the sustainable agriculture promoted at the Utuado campus, the situation will only get worse. Through agricultural work, we will move forward. We will defend UPR-Utuado and our island’s agriculture,” he said at the January 29 protest.
What milestones or corrective actions has the JCF imposed?
Since 2023, the JCF has withheld funds from the UPR’s budget, which are only released if the university implements changes and adjustments “that enable it to identify, refine, adopt, and implement initiatives to improve academic excellence and operational efficiency.” That year, the JCF withheld $40 million, conditioned on two actions: a $20 million reform to the pension system for university employees and a $20 million pilot program to consolidate the administrative operations of the Aguadilla, Arecibo, and Utuado campuses.
“The UPR must show significant progress in developing a plan to transform its operations and prioritize investments. This request for additional funding must include clear objectives and goals to support economic development and achieve fiscal responsibility while addressing the critical needs of students, faculty, and infrastructure. These objectives must be met to gain access to the funds,” the JCF states in the certified government budget.
The JCF will determine whether to release the funds after reviewing the implementation of the proposed measures, as outlined in section 17 of the 2025 budget certification sent to former Governor Pedro Pierluisi on June 30, 2024.
For 2025, the JCF also conditioned the release of $18.8 million that the UPR needs to match state funds for reconstructing the Torre Norte student residence, which Hurricane María seriously affected in 2017. To access the funds, the university must submit a feasibility study, a financial analysis, and an operational plan. The funds remain withheld until the feasibility study is completed.
One of the JCF’s fiscal measures eliminated the long-standing “formula” that, under a 1996 law, allocated 9.6% of Puerto Rico’s General Fund to the UPR.
An analysis by the Center for a New Economy published in 2021 found that with the elimination of this formula, UPR’s General Fund allocation dropped from $911 million in 2017 to $466 million in 2022 — a 49% reduction. In the fiscal year 2023-24, the General Fund contribution to the UPR was around $441 million, the same amount approved for the 2025-26 budget.
“The formula” was created to guarantee UPR’s fiscal autonomy amid political fluctuations and changes in public administration in Puerto Rico.
This story was produced in collaboration with the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo and Open Campus.
