U. Northern Colorado Laying Off Staff Amid State Funding Cuts, Enrollment Decline
“The waters are certainly stormy, but we’ve weathered rough seas before”
Lower enrollment is going to be an issue for lots of schools in the coming years.
KUSA News reports:
UNC to lay off staff amid state funding cuts and enrollment decline
The University of Northern Colorado will lay off roughly 50 employees, expected in early November.
The announcement came during a recent campus budget town hall, where UNC President Andy Feinstein and Chief Financial Officer Dale Pratt outlined the financial challenges facing the university. You can view the full town hall on UNC’s website.
Feinstein acknowledged the difficult road ahead, but stressed the administration’s commitment to navigating the situation.
“The waters are certainly stormy, but we’ve weathered rough seas before,” Feinstein said during the meeting.
UNC’s student enrollment has dropped over the past seven years. According to data presented at the town hall, total enrollment has fallen from more than 12,800 students in 2018 to around 8,400 undergraduate and graduate students today.
In addition to fewer students, UNC is also dealing with a reduction in state funding. Pratt said the university’s state allocation was recently cut by $550,000 — one of several factors contributing to what UNC projects will be a $14 million budget deficit by fiscal year 2027.
“The little box you can’t see there, it says UNC’s funding was cut by 550K,” Pratt said, pointing to a slide during the presentation.
To mitigate the shortfall, UNC leadership announced a total reduction of 80 to 100 positions, which includes both layoffs and vacant roles that will not be filled. The university expects to lay off approximately 50 employees, while the remaining positions are either already vacant or will become vacant in the near future.
UNC has confirmed that no faculty members will be included in the layoffs at this time. The cuts are focused on staff positions across the university’s operations.
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Comments
I think that laying off administrative staff is probably the best first step for a university to take after deciding to cut expenses. Looking at the longer range future of universities, I believe they may be in serious danger. Unless the public schools and our colleges and universities can pump out enough people affected by Marxist ideas and disliking the values of Western, Judeo-Christian civilization, Americans may recognize that today’s universities pervert their students’ thinking and, absent drastic reform, should be avoided..
The academically exalted geniuses who run Higher Education facilities seem to have overlooked the drawbacks associated with convincing half the country that they have now become no more than Marxist indoctrination camps.