University of Wyoming Facing Budget Shortfall of $15 Million
“shortfall stems from enrollment decline, inflation and reduced investment income”
Looks like it’s time to start making some difficult decisions.
The WyoFile reports:
University of Wyoming faces $15 million budget shortfall
After a hand-wringing legislative session that put tens of millions in University of Wyoming funding in peril, the state’s lone four-year school is facing yet another fiscal hurdle — a roughly $15 million shortfall in operating money.
While overall university funding has increased from state appropriations, most of those dollars can only be used in specific ways, leaving the school in need of money it can use flexibly for routine operating expenses.
University leaders kicked off the school’s 2027 budget process last week with this news.
“We are really grateful to the Legislature this year for funding, pretty much fully funding, our budget, and the governor supporting that, and really supporting the university,” University of Wyoming Trustee Laura Schmid-Pizzato noted within moments of starting the two-day budget hearing. “With that said, we are facing some budget shortfalls.”
The $15 million shortfall stems from enrollment decline, inflation and reduced investment income, outgoing University of Wyoming President Ed Seidel said at the hearing. In a message Seidel sent to the UW Leadership Team ahead of the meeting, the president explained that net tuition revenue is less than previously projected. Utility and core infrastructure costs continue to rise. Investment income, which is less available than in previous years, can’t pay for recurring expenses.
“They just all conspired this year to kind of create the situation that we have,” Seidel said at the budget hearing.
These challenges aren’t unique to UW. For years, falling birth rates have foreshadowed a “demographic cliff” that would lead to a drop-off in college applicants. Seidel said at the hearing that the school will have to “fight very, very hard” just to “tread water with enrollment,” given that there are simply fewer college-age people.
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Comments
No problem! Just make a few token cuts to placate the legislators, and increase tuition to compensate. It’s worked out rather well thus far!
Start cutting out the stupid programs that only graduate less than five majors per year, consolidate departments, and collapse all of the levels of administrative bloat. Honestly, it’s really the administrative bloat that has caused a lot of these problems along with an open federal student loan checkbook, combined with universities marketing six-figure salaries for absolutely useless majors.
Here are a few that the U of Wyoming offers: Aging Studies, Ceramics, Disability Studies, English as a second language, Environmental Values, Sculpture, Sustainability.
Wyoming has 1 employee for every 4 students. Might want to start there.
Demographic cliff? How about a multitude of major’s that are worthless and kids are catching on. Dozens of administration staffers who have no real job except to push unpopular DEI nonsense. Look at the majority of colleges and note the administrator/student ratio all while skyrocketing tuition for majors that will result in no job after graduation.
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