Utah Board of Higher Education members have signed off on the first round of budget reallocations proposed by University of Utah leaders.

Under 2025 legislation—HB 265—Utah’s eight degree-granting institutions are required to cut 10% of their state-appropriated academic budgets over the next three years. This year, the schools must account for one-third of those cuts—a total of $20 million. The university’s share of that total is $7.5 million.

At the board meeting June 6, President Taylor Randall said the legislation actually advances strategic processes he and Provost Mitzi Montoya put in place over the past few years to achieve savings from institution-wide operational excellence initiatives and mission-aligned planning.

With the urgency of the legislation, “we reap the benefits of the acceleration of some of the change processes we have already implemented,” Randall said.

The U submitted its proposal on May 16. In a letter accompanying the submission, Randall wrote, “There has never been a more vital time to invest in higher education and deepen the partnership between the university and the state… Utah must be ready. The University of Utah must be ready.”

Colleges and universities have the chance to gain back the funding if it is reinvested in “high impact” and workforce-aligned degree programs. At the U., the budget shifts will include such reallocations:

• $2.7 million for engineering robotics, cybersecurity, biomedical, data science and clean energy programs,
• $2 million to expand the Responsible AI Initiative across campus
• $1.3 million to expand academic and clinical training programs for behavioral healthcare

Academic Affairs units are bearing the lion’s share of the cuts this year—69% or $4.1 million of the U’s total. Montoya says robust data gathering and mission-aligned planning will help main campus colleges and departments reimagine the workforce development and education innovations lawmakers are demanding.

“The impact of this legislation is significant, but our strategic reinvestment plan is designed to ensure Utah has the highly educated workforce and innovation capacity needed to meet the demands of a rapidly changing global economy,” Montoya said. “We have been engaging in tough conversations and making difficult decisions. But because of our persistent efforts, we have been able to consider and respond to the mandates and spirit of HB 265 in a deliberate and planful way.”

“The U is strong and growing. Through the steps we have already taken and the actions we will continue to pursue, we can ensure that growth continues for years to come.”

Strategic Decisions

The university will cut $4.2 million in staff costs, reinvesting $4.1 million in faculty and nearly $400,000 in staff positions.

The St. George Graduate Center managed by University Connected Learning will be sunsetted and the lease cancelled. Nearly two decades ago, the Utah Legislature encouraged a partnership between the state’s flagship institution of higher education and then-Dixie State University (now Utah Tech University) to provide advanced degrees in Southern Utah. Since that time, declining enrollments and the expansion of Utah Tech’s own graduate offerings have reduced the need for the center. Current students will be able to continue to pursue their degrees to completion.

Following USHE’s decision to phase out the Utah College Advising Corps, the university is eliminating 12 staff positions assigned to the U’s UCAC center.

The decision to restructure the School for Cultural and Social Transformation, or Transform, will shutter the university’s smallest independent academic unit while preserving its scholarship and teaching in the College of Humanities. On May 27 and 28, the faculty of Humanities and Transform voted to merge. University leaders say shifting Disability, Ethnic and Gender Studies back into a larger college home will provide enhanced faculty and student support resources. Also this year, four colleges—Humanities, Science, Social and Behavioral Sciences and Transform—were brought together as the new Colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences with a shared services model.

Finally, the faculty of Humanities will launch a civic engagement initiative with curriculum and pedagogy models to be woven throughout the university’s general education courses.

In coming years

Phase Two and Phase Three will require university leaders to reallocate during the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 academic years. The university is responsible for cutting $6.2 million in 2026 and a final $5.9 million in 2027. Some of the proposed reinvestments include:

• Sharing IT, HR, research support, and finance and budgeting services
• Launching an early retirement initiative for employees who are 60 years old and have worked at the university for at least 5 years
• Setting stricter protocols for university travel and streamlining billing
• Building greater efficiencies in how the university runs and builds its facilities

University leaders will report back to USHE with “sufficient detail and validation on all strategic reallocation items” in or before September 2025.