By Courtney Tanner | The Salt Lake Tribune

For Utah’s higher education leaders, the budget cuts on the table this legislative session feel a bit like reliving last year. And also the year before that.

During a bruising past two legislative sessions, the state’s public colleges and universities have seen their funding reduced. In 2024, that was a 1.5% cut, or $20 million, with a one-time backfill.

In 2025, it was a 10% cut based on instruction costs, which amounted to $60 million. Institutions could earn some of their money back in a reallocation process.

But the latest call to slash more money — for the third year in a row — is spurring deep frustration among school leaders.

“We’ve gone through this process already,” said Utah System of Higher Education Commissioner Geoff Landward.

The latest proposed cut would be 5% of the nearly $1.9 billion total that the state allocates for public higher education. That would mean a reduction of $94 million for Utah’s eight public colleges and universities.

Read more at SLTrib.com.

This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.