The cost of college mergers in Tayside and Fife will come to more than £12 million, Audit Scotland has revealed.
Most of the bill is being picked up by the Scottish Funding Council but the colleges will have to stump up some of the total.
Fife College has already come into being through the combination of Adam Smith and Carnegie colleges and the non-land-based courses at Elmwood College. This cost £8m, with the colleges spending £1.2m.
The new Dundee and Angus College will be formed in November at a cost of £4.3m. Its two constituent members will pay for £0.9m of that.
Audit Scotland said most colleges made a surplus in 2011/12 but it warned that, with funding continuing to fall, further savings would have to be made through the merger programme.
A £56m drop in support from the funding council saw the sector’s income fall by 9% during the year.
In response, colleges cut their costs by 13% to £688m, mostly through redundancies. The staffing total fell from 12,800 to 11,600 full-time equivalent.
Audit Scotland said government policies to concentrate on full-time courses leading to a qualification meant the number of part-time students fell by 40% between 2008/09 and 2011/12 although full-time numbers rose by 15%.
Auditor General Caroline Gardner said: “The finances of Scotland’s colleges are generally sound. However, income has fallen significantly.
“Colleges will have to manage these funding reductions and changes in structure and status while meeting local communities’ demands for further education.”