Dear Shocker community, it was wonderful to see so many of you at yesterday’s holiday celebration. I regret that this update comes right before the break, but I felt it was important to be transparent and communicative early in this process. I want to make you aware of the university’s budget planning for the current and next fiscal years. I am sharing this update now because we know we will be making at least a 3% cut next year, and I want to allow time for discussions to occur before the holiday break. Although we have been evaluating internally our financial situation since the beginning of the current fiscal year, it is important that the broader campus community has an understanding of it as well.
What this means for our university
We have been reviewing all areas of the university to improve efficiency and fully optimize our base operations. Through that process, we are projecting a minimum 3% General Use (GU) budget reduction for FY 2027. While the specific steps will differ across divisions, this will likely require a reduction in our workforce in some areas.
How we got here
As you know, higher education has experienced budgetary challenges for a number of years. We aren’t the only school in the region to experience difficulties in this regard. More recently, because of changes in the way student visas are issued, we have experienced declines in international students and are predicting an acceleration of this dynamic for the foreseeable future. And though we celebrated record enrollment this fall, headcount alone does not always translate into revenue growth.
These internal dynamics are compounded by the broader challenges facing public higher education nationwide that have emerged all at once: decreases in high school graduates available to enroll in college, declining international enrollment, state funding not keeping pace with rising operating costs, increased investments needed to support new requirements for our athletic programs, and an increasingly competitive research environment. While I see that focused advancement of and investment in our university priorities has helped us withstand many of these pressures more effectively than other institutions, we too must continue to adapt our approach to ensure we can continue fulfilling our mission.
Understanding the road ahead
Through the upcoming spring budget cycle, we will review cost-saving and revenue-generating strategies and keep you updated on any additional information that emerges from the state budget process. We will share more about specific reductions as this work progresses, and our goal will always be to minimize the impact on our campus community as much as possible.
As we guide our leaders to make decisions about where and how our resources are allocated, we remain committed to our priorities: helping families through access and affordability; supporting Kansas businesses with a talent pipeline that meets employer needs; and increasing economic prosperity through higher education that benefits the Kansas economy. This means staying focused on key growth initiatives that have left us in better shape than most other universities, including our investment in strategic enrollment management plans, paid applied learning for students, partnership initiatives as part of our Innovation Campus and Wichita Biomedical Campus, and supporting our Shocker student-athletes.
I hope the days ahead offer you rest and a moment to recharge. I remain grateful for your resilience and continued commitment to Wichita State’s mission.
President Rick Muma
