Editor's Note: A previous version of this story was corrected to reflect the timeframe of when the university completed a reduction in retirement contributions.
The Willamette community has looked a little different this year, not because of a fancy relocation or new athletic field, but due to budget cuts. Willamette cut approximately $2 million from the budget this year, according to Vice President of Student Affairs Lisa Landreman. This was done because of a “downward pressure of enrollment,” according to Daniel Valles, the vice president for finance and treasurer.
This decline is partly due to COVID, even though the student body was increasing up until last year. However, according to William Mullen, the vice president of enrollment management, Willamette fell beneath their expected 2028 undergraduate class size, which was estimated at around 450 students. Net tuition makes up about 70% of Willamette’s annual revenues, so a decrease in student population is also a decrease in revenue for the university overall.
This decrease in students was largely due to the issues felt nationwide surrounding the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the class of 2028. The United States Government postponed the release of the FAFSA — which is typically released in October — to January for the 2024-25 academic year. This choice, along with other glitches from the rollout, caused delayed aid packages for students, as Willamette needs the FAFSA in order to determine a student's financial aid award. The overall FAFSA changes also caused some students to receive less money than expected, all impacting Willamette’s enrollment rates for this academic year.
When looking to cut costs, decisions surrounding the budget encouraged Willamette’s financial operations to “find savings outside the classroom,” rather than severely impacting its educational programs. These institutional changes led to cuts like the removal of the Office of Spiritual and Religious Life (OSRL), which faced a lot of pushback from the community and caused a community-wide letter to call for the university to reinstate the OSRL. This is one of the greatest impacts seen by students, and is also considered one of the longer-lasting effects of this budget cut.
Additionally, according to Valles, over the summer of 2024 Willamette completed a “reduction of a retirement contribution,” which normally benefits faculty and staff. In prior years, Willamette would contribute money to a faculty member’s retirement if the employee also contributed 1% of their salary. While Mullen emphasized that the budget is constantly changing — especially since Willamette is only part-way through the fiscal year — in most years, according to Valles, those rates of financial support had been consistent with other institutions.
Some of the impacts are still unclear. Valles emphasized that “the budget is a fluid project” and therefore will always be changing in different ways. He also admitted that these budget issues are “a bit of a complicated question to answer.” The budget is an ongoing process that is impacted by multiple factors, and the Finance Division will shift the budget accordingly throughout the year, communicating with any departments that may be impacted.
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