The state Legislature cut $60.5 million from Utah public higher education.
By Courtney Tanner, The Salt Lake Tribune
“This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.”
As they took turns presenting their plans to comply with state-mandated budget cuts, each of Utah’s public university and college leaders Friday made some version of the same remark: It’s been a hard process under the tightest of timelines.
“I think we’ve learned a lot through this, but it’s been difficult,” said Shane Smeed, the president of Utah Tech University.
UVU’s Vice President of Finance Jim Mortensen echoed him, calling it “challenging.” And University of Utah President Taylor Randall said it has forced the school to quickly adjust to a “moment of reinvention.”
The eight schools have had less than three months to come up with millions of dollars in cuts — the largest reduction to the Utah System of Higher Education in at least the last decade.
State lawmakers cut 10% of the instruction line item from each school’s funding, for a total of $60.5 million. Their directive: Focus on eliminating “inefficient” majors — or programs that have few graduates and lead to lower paying jobs — to come up with the money. At the University of Utah, for instance, the reduction is $19.6 million.
Schools can eventually get the money back — but only if institutions show it will be reinvested in high-wage degrees that lead to jobs the state needs.
For more on this story visit The Salt Lake Tribune: https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2025/06/10/utah-university-budget-cuts-what/