University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler said Friday that "we have opportunities to improve" in a preview of a report that examines the university's administrative costs, the Pioneer Press reports.

Kaler presented the preview in front of the U of M Board of Regents, and is scheduled to present a summary of the report as he proposes his $1.1 biennial state aid proposal to the House Higher Education Policy and Finance Committee on Monday.

The university hired an outside consulting firm last month to study its administrative costs for a report requested by the Legislature.

The study was spurred by a Wall Street Journal report in December which used the U of M as a case study in administrative bloat at American universities.

Sibson Consulting was paid $48,000 by U of M to conduct the study.

In addition, the university has hired Chicago-based Huron Consulting Services for $495,000 in an effort to evaluate a range of administrative costs at the U of M in comparison to other public and private educational institutions, the Pioneer Press says.