Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is the Healthy Campus Initiative?
The Healthy Campus Initiative is UCCS’s multi‑year effort to stabilize our financial foundation, address the structural budget deficit, and position the university for long‑term sustainability, growth, and investment in our people, mission, and academic excellence.
Why is UCCS taking this action now?
Higher education has experienced lasting financial shifts, and UCCS has relied on one‑time funds and reserves for many years to bridge budget gaps. Expenses have outpaced revenue growth, creating an unsustainable path. To build a stable and healthy future, we must address this structural deficit now rather than rely on short‑term fixes.
What does this mean for the future of UCCS?
This initiative is about creating a stronger, more resilient university, one that can invest in students, faculty, staff, and the campus environment. The work is challenging, but it is designed to ensure UCCS remains a stable, thriving academic community for future generations of students.
What role does Culture of Care have in the Healthy Campus Initiative?
The Healthy Campus Initiative provides the strategic and financial framework for long-term sustainability. UCCS’s Culture of Care provides the foundational values and behaviors that guide how that work is carried out. Together, they ensure that UCCS moves forward in a way that is strategic, responsible, and deeply centered on people and mission.
Why does UCCS have a budget gap?
Like many universities, UCCS has been affected by national changes in enrollment, rising costs, and limits on state funding. For several years, the campus used reserves and one-time funds to cover shortfalls, but that approach is no longer sustainable. The Healthy Campus Initiative is a long‑term plan to fix that.
How large is the current budget gap?
At this time, campus is facing a $27.7 million gap that we will address over a five‑year period. However, this figure reflects current projections and will be refined as enrollment, revenue strategies, and expense reductions evolve.
What is the difference between general funds and auxiliary funds?
General Funds are the primary, unrestricted operating budget supported by state appropriations, tuition, and educational fees. The deficits being considered in the Healthy Campus Initiative are in the general fund only.
Auxiliary Funds are self-generated through the sale of goods and services or generated through student fees. These funds are legally restricted to the operations that generate them and generally cannot be redirected to cover general fund deficits.By the same token, general fund sources are not intended to cover deficits in auxiliaries.
What does “structural budget deficit” mean?
Structural deficits in universities occur when what is considered "ongoing revenue" is less than what is considered ongoing operational expenses. Permanent revenue in public universities has traditionally been considered to be tuition revenue and state appropriations. For example, using one-time reserves to pay ongoing salaries creates a structural imbalance.
Are we receiving an appropriate level of funding relative to other campuses and are other campuses experiencing similar shortfalls in core operational areas?
The State of Colorado uses a performance funding model to allocate state funds to board and universities/colleges. If we increase our retention rates, graduation rates and enrollment, we could receive increased funding from the State of Colorado. Our primary source of revenue comes from student tuition fees. One of the reasons we have seen weak growth in revenue is because our enrollment has fallen from 12,500 students to 11,100 students. If we turn around enrollment declines into growth, this would significantly alter our financial situation. Other CU campuses, like CU Boulder and CU Anschutz, are experiencing student enrollment growth and research growth. CU Denver in the past has experienced enrollment declines. As they grow their enrollment, their revenues are also growing.
Why is the university not pursuing retrenchment or declaring Financial Exigency in response to current financial challenges?
At this time, the university is not pursuing retrenchment or declaring Financial Exigency because both actions are defined by the CU Board of Regents as last resort measures with significant and long‑lasting academic, contractual, and reputational consequences. Under CU Board of Regents law and policy, a declaration of Financial Exigency is reserved for circumstances in which the institution’s financial condition cannot be resolved through less severe means. Once declared, Financial Exigency substantially limits local discretion, activates mandatory system‑level processes, and may require actions such as program discontinuance, faculty appointment terminations, and retrenchment that are difficult to reverse.
Consistent with Regents policy, campus leadership is first pursuing targeted budget reductions, structural and academic efficiencies and realignments, and operational changes to stabilize finances to support long term institutional capacity. Current financial conditions, while serious, remain within a range where these actions can address the shortfall without invoking Financial Exigency or retrenchment thresholds. Campus leadership continues to monitor financial conditions closely, and any future consideration of Financial Exigency or retrenchment would follow CU Board of Regents.
How much (and in what ways) has the campus already been financially supplemented by System?
Since Chancellor Sobanet has been in her role, President Saliman has provided more than $24 million to support specific campus needs, above and beyond the UCCS general funding available to the campus. These funds have been used for targeted investments, for example: $8 million to reduce the borrowing needed for the engineering building renovations which reduces the debt service payments saving the campus money on an ongoing basis. $2.5 million has supported staffing for enrollment managers, student affairs and faculty affairs to boost student enrollment and retention efforts, which seek to lessen expense reductions in coming years. About $1.6 million has funded campus safety and mental health needs following the events of Feb. 16, 2024. And $4.9 million has gone to the campus for needed investments around campus-led online learning.
But it is important to remember that no one-time funding from the system office can solve the multi-year challenge of closing the revenue and expense gap the campus is experiencing. In fact, prior spending of one-time funding as if it were ongoing, coupled with a decline in total student enrollment, is a major driver of the budget issues during the last decade. Only by reigning in expenses to match revenues and then growing campus revenues can the campus regain a healthy financial footing.
Spring 2026 Healthy Campus FAQs
Healthy Campus Questions
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