Budget, enrollment drop for WSU

Washington State University has announced another round of budget reductions after months of acknowledging the lasting effects of COVID-19 and a decline in enrollment.

“The decrease in enrollment while the University of Idaho and University of Washington report record incoming classes does not inspire confidence in our future,” WSU President Kirk Schulz said in a letter that was posted Thursday. “None of these things help build morale and a sense of optimism about WSU moving forward.”

The 2023 academic year being with a 7% drop in enrollment, which was the third consecutive year of enrollment declines. WSU recently announced it will make a 6% reduction in its core fund budgets.

Although budget reductions won’t start rolling out until next year, a meeting with the Board of Regents has determined “numerous” strategies to increase enrollment next fall.

But with the assumption that the same amount of students would be enrolled, the university could see a drop in enrollment before stabilization in 2025.

“Enrollment declines continue to constrain tuition revenues and will require the university to enact budget reductions for 2024 to accommodate the budgetary impact,” said Phil Weiler, vice president of marketing and communications.

In addition, WSU is planning to propose a 2.5% tuition increase to lessen the budget cuts for the 2023-24 academic year for undergraduate, graduate and nonresident students, Weiler said.

If approved in the May 2023 Board of Regents meeting, the Washington College Grant Program will still guarantee financial assistance for eligible resident undergraduate students and will cover full tuition amounts, including increases.

The maximum increase for the 2023-24 academic year will be released by the Office of Financial Management later this spring and will be expected to be 2.5% or greater, Weiler said.

Carrillo-Casas can be contacted at mcarrillo@dnews.com.