Caught in a budget squeeze, Haskell Indian Nations University is dropping its summer school program.

“This isn’t something anybody wanted to do,” said Marvin Buzzard, vice president of university services. “We just don’t have the money.”

Earlier this year, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs increased Haskell’s $8 million budget by about $250,000.

“That sounds like a lot of money, but it’s not enough to cover cost-of-living increases for our employees,” Buzzard said. “And the university’s share of employees’ health insurance went up $20 a person. Again, that doesn’t sound like much, but when you multiply that times 200 employees, times 26 pay periods, it adds up pretty quick.”

Haskell this year also has to pay several workers’ salaries that until recently were part of BIA’s administrative budget.

Another problem: Haskell’s spring-semester enrollment is usually less than that of the fall semester. Consequently, the spring semester’s costs are usually less than the fall semester’s. But this year, spring-semester enrollment remained steady, so costs are not expected to decrease.

Dropping summer school, Buzzard said, is expected to save the university between $300,000 and $400,000.

“It’s probably one of the most painful things we’ve ever had to do,” he said, “because we know it’s going to have an adverse impact on students as well as on employees. A lot of people are disappointed, I’m sure.”

Each year, between 250 and 300 students take summer school classes at Haskell.