Regents approve $6.84 billion budget for next fiscal year

GREELEY - CU's systemwide budget of $6.84 billion for the 2026-27 fiscal year earned the approval of the Board of Regents at its June 4 regular meeting.

The total, an increase of 2.5% over this year's budget, reflects investments in salary and benefit increases, institutional financial aid and campus budget initiatives.

Regents previously approved tuition, student fees and faculty and staff compensation at the board's April meeting.

In his presentation to the board, Chad Marturano, vice president and chief financial officer, noted enrollment forecasts for the campuses, three of which are expected to increase in the coming year: CU Anschutz (up 1.7%), CU Boulder (up 1.3%) and CU Denver (up 0.6%). UCCS expects a 1.4% decrease.

The state funding piece of CU's budget equation came into focus last month when state leaders approved continued investment in higher education. Lawmakers restored the mid-year operating cut of $9.5 million for higher education in the 2025-26 fiscal year; CU receives $2.6 million of that.

As anticipated during the previous budget cycle, and acknowledging a trend of decreased federal funding across U.S. research universities, CU is planning for a challenging year for research awards and expenditures. The new budget includes projected decreases across all four campuses, roughly a 4% systemwide decline over the current year, Marturano said.

"Still, CU is positioned to do really well with research awards in the future," said Marturano, pointing to university strengths in cyber, quantum and healthcare, just to name a few.

Marturano also detailed five-year enrollment projections at three of the campuses, including expected record enrollments at CU Boulder (39,902) and CU Anschutz (4,718) in the coming year, as well as a rise to 8,770 students at CU Denver. UCCS expects to be down slightly, to 7,401 students, in the coming year; a five-year enrollment outlook for UCCS is scheduled for the Sept. 10-11 meeting of the Board of Regents at CU Anschutz. Regents also will receive updated fall enrollment figures for all campuses at that meeting.

In other business at last week's meeting, held in Greeley as part of the board's state outreach efforts:

• Emphasizing that antisemitism and other forms of discrimination have no place at CU, and that the Board of Regents is committed to ensuring it remains welcoming to all people, the board passed a resolution denouncing the glorification of violence and antisemitism. The action came in response to a recent social media post by an unrecognized student organization that celebrated last year's Pearl Street attack and its perpetrator. Said President Todd Saliman, "I join the CU Regents as they stand in solidarity against the recent antisemitic statements made by an unrecognized student group. We can never accept the minimization or glorification of attacks on innocent victims. There is no place at CU for anyone who would justify or support antisemitic acts of violence."
• The board passed resolutions of appreciation for three outgoing governance group leaders: Mitchell Mauro, chair of the Intercampus Student Forum; Ja'Net Hurt, co-chair of Staff Council; and Jorge Chavez, Ph.D., chair of Faculty Council.
• Marturano also presented an update on the Strategic Plan, for which campus teams are completing goal-setting for the 2026-29 cycle. They are working toward a June 24 deadline, with the next Strategic Plan update and review planned for the board's summer retreat, set for July 20-22 in Bailey.

Read more on last week's board meeting in CU Boulder Today.