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Staff reductions at the Colorado School of Mines. About $54 million in cuts at Colorado State University Fort Collins. And tapping endowment funds to sustain scholarships for students with farmer worker or migrant backgrounds at Adams State University.
These decisions reflect a broader reality facing Colorado’s public colleges and universities where campus leaders have needed to turn an eye toward stabilizing finances amid numerous fiscal pressures.
Institutions in Colorado and nationally are confronting projected enrollment declines, the loss of federal grants under the Trump administration, and rising inflation. The state kept its higher education operations budget flat for the 2027 fiscal year, although lawmakers also cut some statewide grant programs used by colleges and universities.
Together, those pressures have prompted what many campus leaders describe as “belt-tightening” measures.
Leaders say they’re trying to preserve key services to students, but pressure on those programs is growing. In addition, this year the state allowed schools to raise tuition by up to 3.5% at four-year universities and 5% at community colleges for this fiscal year. While school leaders have said they want to keep tuition low, a higher tuition burden on students risks pushing them out of state or away from college, even though many never pay full price.
Colorado funds higher education at some of the lowest rates in the country, with students paying more for college tuition and fees than in many other states. But the recent moves by the state’s public colleges and universities are part of a larger pattern.
University of Tennessee Knoxville’s Robert Kelchen, a higher education finance expert, said the combination of factors like enrollment decline and federal uncertainty have caused many college and university leaders to cut personnel to save money. Students, he said, aren’t likely to feel as much of an impact yet, but the fiscal challenges are expected to last for several years.
“In the longer term, that will create concerns about: Can students access certain majors? Will they have academic advising available? And just will they have the resources that they need to succeed?” he said.
Heather Heersink, Adams State University chief financial officer, said Alamosa-area students are incredibly sensitive to tuition increases, and she said school leaders tried to keep costs down by dipping into reserves as rising inflationary pressures have squeezed the school’s budget.
“We haven’t had to do cuts or layoffs, but we’ve been really evaluating every budget decision with a fine-tooth comb,” said Heersink.
For Heersink, one priority is to try to maintain student services whenever possible, she said.
For example, Adams State has used a one-time infusion of foundation funds to prop up College Assistance Migrant Program scholarships. The school recently lost about $475,000 in federal funding for these scholarships, which support first-year students who come from migrant and seasonal farmworker backgrounds.
The school also lost $2.4 million of a $3 million federal five-year Ascender grant, which the school received to improve college preparation, student advising, and cultural understanding, according to a school spokesperson.
Other school leaders have confronted similar issues.
CU Boulder’s largest budget reductions came from a projected decrease of 9%, or about $60.4 million, in research grants due to less federal funding, said Nicole Cousins, a school spokesperson.
She said the school has had 59 research award terminations or stop-work orders since the start of 2025.
Meanwhile, the entire Colorado State University System made cuts. The CSU System cited flat state funding and growing uncertainty around federal research support as key drivers of recent budget decisions.
CSU Fort Collins, the system’s largest university with roughly 34,000 students, made the biggest reductions. The university’s explanation of the budget shows the school faced a budget hole ranging from $38 million to $48 million for the 2026-27 school year.
The school enacted a 3% salary increase, but still cut about $54 million, according to a news release.
The school cut 160 vacant and filled positions, with more than half administrative positions. A school budget presentation from May shows these affected about .5% of the workforce.
In making these decisions, the budget document says that school leaders’ priorities included the raises, as well as “financial aid and student success, retention, and completion.”
Colorado School of Mines officials said in a statement that June cuts, which included a 1% reduction to its 1,600 employees, would generate roughly $17 million in savings over a two-year period. These changes included shuttering the school’s dental clinic which provided services to students, a move that was first reported by 9News.
School representatives said these cuts were driven by factors that include declining enrollment projections and changes to international student visa processing.
Even at schools where cuts weren’t necessary, school leaders say they’re keenly aware of the budget pressures.
Metropolitan State University of Denver has increased student enrollment and raised tuition by 3.5% for the 2026-27 school year and is in a strong financial position, said a spokesperson. But he added that “continued pressure on Colorado’s state budget could create challenges for higher education funding statewide.”
Heersink of Adams State noted that the university’s budget maneuvers this year are only a stopgap.
“We have tapped every pool available to us,” she said.
Correction: Aug. 10, 2026: Colorado State University cut 160 positions that included filled and unfilled positions. The original version said those positions were filled.
Jason Gonzales is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at jgonzales@chalkbeat.org.
