Fall 2025 University Budget Forum FAQs

The Strategic Enrollment Initiative is Western’s plan to thoughtfully grow enrollment by expanding access, especially for Washington students who have historically faced barriers to attending a four-year university. It focuses on simplifying pathways to admission, strengthening transfer options, and improving student support so growth aligns with the university’s mission and long-term sustainability. https://president.wwu.edu/presidential-strategic-enrollment-growth 

Yes, the plan accounts for statewide demographic and economic trends, including declining K–12 enrollment and the fact that only about 55% of Washington high school graduates currently enroll in postsecondary education. The enrollment initiative is designed to help reverse this by simplifying pathways, expanding access, and improving Washington’s overall college-going rate.

Graduate outcomes are integrated into the broader focus on retention and completion, including a continued emphasis on high-impact learning experiences that help students apply their studies in real-world settings.

We will continue creating opportunities through advising, course planning, and alternative pathways to help students reach their academic goals and thrive in programs that match their interests and preparation.

While there are no specific supports tied solely to the Guaranteed Admissions Program, WWU will continue to offer resources for first-year students who may need extra academic support. This includes programs like the First-Year Seminar, designed for first-generation college students, as well as dedicated support in key areas like math and writing.

We recognize the importance of identifying target student groups and providing support beyond the basics to address retention more holistically. WWU is closely tracking academic success and monitoring students who may be at risk of struggling or leaving, ensuring they receive the guidance and resources needed to stay on track and succeed. Academic Advising and Student Achievement Center Advisors will be assigned to all incoming First Year and Transfer students who are first-generation and/or have a low entering transfer or high school GPA.  Students will receive phone calls and emails from their advisor throughout the academic year.   

Western’s guaranteed transfer agreement partners include Whatcom College, Skagit College, Everett College, Olympic College, and Peninsula College. We are working to add Edmonds College, Shoreline College, Seattle Colleges, Bellevue College, and Green River College.

WWU has long used a holistic admissions process, and that will continue. There is no change to the university’s admissions standards; the Guaranteed Admissions initiatives are designed to provide a simplified path to admission to students who would already meet Western’s requirements. Specific student information that is helpful for enrollment, financial aid, or other support purposes will be collected after the student commits to attend WWU.

Western offers Direct Admission to select majors, allowing students to start working towards their academic and career goals as soon as they start. If a student’s intended major is not part of Direct Admission, they can follow the standard declaration process after starting at WWU. More information is available at https://admissions.wwu.edu/admission-to-majors

Running Start students are considered first-year students.

That could be a contributing factor, but Western received fewer applications for Fall 2025 than in previous years. It isn't easy to assess the reasons why people choose not to apply to Western because by default, if they don’t apply, we don’t have data.

WWU is strongly committed to supporting the success of all students, including students of color. Services such as academic advising, Multicultural Student Services, and peer mentoring will continue to play a key role in promoting retention, academic achievement, and a strong sense of belonging for underrepresented students.

Increasing representation among low-income and first-generation students is a key part of WWU’s mission, vision, and strategic plan and aligns with broader state goals to expand access and attainment in higher education. The university continues to focus on creating pathways and support systems to help these students succeed. 

Our goal is to be strategic with the savings from the faculty retirement incentives. After reaching the target reductions identified, any additional savings may be allocated towards internal reinvestment that contributes to programming and project initiatives.

All of the college-based reductions (totaling $5M, of which your college was responsible for $500k) have been identified, primarily last spring, and are in the process of being implemented. This process will take until FY 27.

As the process of examining reductions in instruction has proceeded over the past 3 years, we have worked—and will continue to work—with college deans and college leadership (chairs and governance groups) to identify where there is not only capacity, but where reinvestment is needed to ensure a balanced approach to sustaining breadth of programming as well as capacity. 

Pell grants are Federal financial aid grants, and they were noted as a large component of the university’s revenue in the grants and contracts category because most people think of faculty research grants when they see that category. Faculty research grants are included in the revenue number but represent a smaller amount for Western.

We are tracking reductions by program code, which describes the broad function of activity rather than the organizational structure, and better maps reductions across reorganizations. Out of all the reductions taken in FY25 and FY26, 11.9% came from student services compared to 40.2% from instruction and 37.5% from institutional support, which includes things in Business and Financial Affairs and Advancement like IT, donor relations, marketing, and communications.

When we compare the proportion of reductions to the proportion of our operating budget spent in each of those categories, academic support and student services are both broadly proportional to total spend. Instruction was protected; while it made up 40.2% of the total reductions, it accounted for 57.1% of total spending in FY25. The heaviest reductions proportionately were in Institutional support, which account for 37.5% of reductions compared to 17.1% of spending,

That still represents a loss. The focus of the reductions was on decreasing administrative costs in each area rather than reducing or eliminating services, and we’re working out how we can leverage the services we currently have to meet student needs. For example, staffing was reduced in the Career Services Center, and now they are incorporated into University Advancement, where they can form tighter connections to alumni networks and develop more self-service options for students and alumni.

Last year, senior executives did not receive raises. The Board of Trustees' budget plan reflects the need for a sustainable long-term budget, which can’t be accomplished by continually skipping compensation increases for a group or groups of employees. It creates a challenge for hiring when positions are vacated, because we don’t have the budgeted resources to remain competitive.