March 12, 2025
Written by: Sadie Latimer | News Editor
Recently, Western’s leaders have been growing concerned with the state of the university’s finances due to increasing operational costs and lower enrollment.
March 5, in an email sent to Western students, Provost Jose Coll said, “Unless we take additional measures to reduce expenses for the next few budget years, we will not be on a sustainable path.”
This year, the university’s projected deficit spending is $3.5 million. Over the next two years, Western will be working on decreasing expenses by $5 million.
Many educational institutions across the country are experiencing the same financial struggles as Western. According to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, “About two-thirds of all degree-granting public and private nonprofit colleges exhibited one of the three key indicators of financial stress: consistently losing money, fewer students enrolled than a decade ago or a decline in state appropriations or endowment values.”
The article also stated that universities have recently been more willing to discuss financial hardships, which leads to the universities’ leaders putting less emphasis on revenue generation, and more on cutting costs.
In Provost Coll’s email, he stated that currently, Western has not made any decisions regarding the closure of any academic programs. In the scenario where a program does get cut, students who are in that program can finish their degree uninterrupted.
There are many people and committees dedicated to finding a solution to Western’s finances, including the University Budget Advisory Committee and the newly reinstated Academic Sustainability Committee. In an email Feb. 23, President Jesse Peters outlined the steps the university is taking.
“The new (vice president for administration and finance), Kwabena Boakye, begins March 1st, and he will take over coordination of our budget reduction strategies, including processes for gathering information and feedback,” said President Peters.
The university may have to make some difficult decisions, however, the designated committees, Vice President for Administration and Finance Boakye, Budget Director Camarie Moreno and Western’s other leaders are working together to ensure that students can still thrive at Western.
“I know this type of announcement is stressful and worrisome,” said President Peters. “But our proactive steps will set us on a path for sustainability. Now is the time for us to consider how we best implement innovations and efficiencies so that the university can continue to serve students and fulfill our mission.”
Contact the author at howlnews@mail.wou.edu
