Despite the Utah Legislature’s 1.5% cut in funding for Utah’s public colleges and universities this past spring, public colleges and universities could see even more budget reductions.
House Speaker Mike Schultz called for 10% budget cuts at Utah’s higher education institutions earlier this month. Some of the state’s Democratic lawmakers are critical of his motivations.
Schultz told the Salt Lake Tribune he’s asked the leaders at the state’s 16 public schools to come up with possible cutbacks ahead of the upcoming legislative session to make college programs more affordable, prepare for enrollment declines and boost “workforce alignment.”
In an email to the Daily Utah Chronicle, Utah House of Representatives Director of Communications Alexa Musselman said the goal is to maximize students’ and taxpayers’ return on investment in the higher education system.
One of Schultz’s goals is to combat the rising tuition and operating costs at Utah’s colleges.
The University of Utah’s total operating expenses in 2023 amounted to $7,228,983,000, according to its annual financial reports. In 2021, it was $5,997,162,000.
The U has the highest tuition in the state. Following the mandatory tuition freeze the year before, tuition and fees increased by 3.28% for the 2024-2025 school year.
Musselman said in an email that Schultz’s call to boost “workforce alignment” means giving students the skills and knowledge they need to secure high-paying, in-demand jobs.
“The idea is to reallocate funding away from programs that are under-enrolled and or have poor workforce outcomes and reinvest it back into colleges and universities to expand high-demand programs that deliver strong employment outcomes for students,” Musselman said.
With the goal of strengthening “workforce alignment,” Senator Nate Blouin said Schultz wants to shift more focus to technical education.
“I don’t think there’s any reason to shy away from that, but I don’t think it should be coming with cuts in other areas,” Blouin said. “The focus on affordability, I think, is good. But, I think it needs to be discussed not as a blunt tool but as more of a scalpel.”
Blouin says the house speaker’s call is less about optimizing spending and more about minimizing the influence of higher education.
“I think it’s just generally related to the kind of a bigger push that I would, frankly, call anti-higher education,” he said.
Senator Kathleen Riebe, the Democratic Whip, shares a similar point of view.
“There has been a constant attack on higher education and K-12,” Riebe said. “I don’t understand why we as a legislature feel the need to impose ourselves into these kinds of businesses.”
The U has been a main target of the Utah Legislature, according to Blouin. He said they see the school as “more liberal than they would like.”
“They see the students and the faculty and the programs as being not aligned with the values of their own political ideology,” he said.
Blouin referenced S.B. 226, the School of General Education Act, which did not pass the Senate in the 2024 Legislative Session. The bill sought to reform general education requirements at Utah’s public universities, aimed centrally on the U, to focus more on Western and American civilization, history and philosophy.
He also mentioned H.B. 261, which was signed into law in January. It ended diversity, equity and inclusion programs in state schools and state-funded organizations.
Another motivation for Schultz’s call is a predicted college enrollment drop, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. A Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute report found Utah’s college-age population is headed for a 12-year decline beginning in 2032. This will likely impact enrollment trends, meaning less tuition income at universities throughout the state.
“We have a chance to get ahead of the curve, improve the value for students, and position higher ed to thrive in a challenging new environment,” Musselman said in an email.
However, Senator Riebe said continual cost-cutting would only make people nervous and drive them away from Utah.
“We’re seeing lots of people not come to the universities. We’re seeing people leave,” she said. “When you start to limit people’s expressions and freedoms, they choose to take their kids and their money elsewhere.”
Blouin said the proposed higher education cuts have a short-term focus, neglecting potential harm to schools’ reputations and other long-term effects. He links this to a lack of proper motivations.
“I think it’s always fine to talk about, how can we most effectively spend money, spend public funding in the most proper ways?” Blouin said. “But I see this as just a threat to stop doing the things that we don’t like.”
