The University of Maine is planning budget cuts, staff reductions and a tuition increase as the school aims to address an expected $18 million shortfall next year, according to documents made public Friday.

Leaders at the state’s flagship university in Orono were anticipating a big deficit, which they attribute to inflation, declining enrollment, federal funding cuts and deferred maintenance costs. In a letter this month, President Joan Ferrini-Mundy described this year as “the most difficult” budget process since she became president in 2018.

The university asked each department, including athletics and administration, to submit budgets in December that reduced expenses by 7%.

Now, the school is proposing a budget that includes $5.6 million in permanent budget cuts and $5.7 million in one-time cuts, according to a slideshow that will be presented at the university’s board of trustees meeting next week. Fewer than 10 staff positions will be eliminated, which Ferinni-Mundy said this month was achieved “without faculty retrenchments.”

The university also plans to increase tuition across the board. In-state tuition is expected to rise 3.9% to $13,230, and out-of-state tuition 4% to $38,340. All other universities in the UMaine system are proposing similar increases in their tuition rates, university spokesperson Samantha Warren said.

The school notes its tuition is still less expensive than other land-grant colleges in New England.

The tuition increase “is necessary to cover a portion of our rising operating costs, including compensation for the excellent faculty and staff who support the success of our students and our state’s economy,” Warren wrote in an email.

Information made public Friday did not detail where budget or staffing cuts are being made. Warren declined to provide additional information “until we’re ready to communicate those directly to affected employees and their representatives,” citing the university system’s collective bargaining agreements with workers’ unions.

Representatives for the University of Maine Professional Staff Association, the union representing the school’s non-faculty employees, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

University administrators plan to bolster its budget with an additional $2.3 million in state appropriations, Ferinni-Mundy said, as well as a $5.5 million “one-time strategic use” of reserve funds.

“I want to sincerely thank college/unit leaders, their teams, and my cabinet for their outstanding work over the last three months that enabled us to present the system with the balanced budget required for our university,” she wrote.

The university’s budget proposal lists declining out-of-state enrollment, shifting federal priorities and a decrease in credit hours per student as “persistent challenges.” This year’s budget proposal will result in a projected 2.6% decrease in credit hours, the school said.

The University of Maine in Orono is the largest of the system’s seven campuses with an enrollment of more than 10,000 students.

For many years, university officials have worked to keep tuition costs low, but that has also affected the current deficit. Tuition and fees make up the single largest share of the university’s revenue, 46%.

UMaine’s tuition this year — $12,720 for in-state undergraduates and $36,870 for out-of-state undergrads — increased about 3% from the previous year.

The budget cuts for the next year come as UMaine continues its work on a comprehensive strategic plan that will define the institution’s priorities going forward. The goal is to reshape UMaine in response to the modern challenges in higher education, from economic pressures to enrollment declines to academic relevance.

As part of the strategic planning, the university recently completed a review of every academic program based on data, like enrollment and graduation rate. It is now working with deans to gather personalized feedback as it figures out the next steps. That could mean combining or eliminating programs in the future.

Last week, the university’s faculty senate passed a resolution to eliminate the Master of Arts in teaching Spanish, and another to suspend a medical laboratory sciences bachelor’s degree. Enrollment in the Spanish program ranged from zero to three students over the past several years, while the lab sciences degree has not enrolled any students in years.

Changes to both programs will need approval from the University of Maine System Board of Trustees to move forward, and will not result in the elimination of any faculty.