Washington State University Vancouver will feel the brunt of the university system’s budget cuts. In this undated, provided photo a student sits on the grounds of the Southwest Washington campus.
Courtesy Washington State University Vancouver
Faculty and staff at Washington State University’s Vancouver campus say they are on pins and needles, as they wait to hear who will be impacted by the university system’s budget cuts.
In May, WSU’s Board of Regents announced the university would need to trim nearly $12 million from its core operating funds to run a balanced budget next fiscal year. Washington’s public universities are required to operate a balanced budget by state law.
The institution’s Vancouver campus will feel the brunt of the reductions soon. It was given a mandate to slash 15% from its budget. At just over $6 million in cuts, that’s close to half of the targeted cuts for the entire university system, which includes five campuses across Washington.
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University leaders approved cuts to Vancouver’s budget on Wednesday. WSU spokesperson Brenda Alling said the university will not be releasing details of the plan.
“What seems really problematic is this exceptional requirement that Vancouver get a significantly higher cut than any other campus in the whole state,” said WSUV Liberal Arts and History professor Sue Peabody.
Peabody is a tenured professor who has been teaching at the satellite campus since 1996. She said WSUV has weathered cuts in the past, including a 10% budget reduction just last year, but it has so far avoided layoffs.
“This time [WSU] is asking for very, very deep cuts that can only be met with personnel,” Peabody said. “There’s no other way to meet the 15% than eliminating employees.”
WSU is Washington’s land-grant university and it’s the second largest public university system in the state, with more than 25,000 students enrolled in 2025. The Vancouver campus is the institution’s second largest physical campus, enrolling close to 2,700 students.
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WSU is facing a multitude of financial headwinds, as are colleges and universities in Oregon and across the nation.
Washington State’s budget woes are primarily driven by decreasing state funds, anticipated losses in federal research grants, declining student enrollment and increasing personnel costs.
At a packed town hall-style meeting on Monday, university administrators acknowledged that the impending cuts are causing stress among the campus community.
“This is a time of incredibly high anxiety for us all,” Sandra Haynes, WSU executive vice president for statewide campuses, said at the June 15 meeting. “It’s hard not knowing what our futures will be. It’s hard not knowing how we’re going to take these cuts.”
In this provided photo Washington State University Vancouver faculty and staff filled a budget town hall hosted by university administrators on Monday, June 15, 2026.
Susan Lavender
Administrators also attempted to clear up why the Vancouver campus is taking a disproportionate cut compared to the university’s other campuses and colleges.
According to Damien Sinnott, WSU senior vice president for finance and operations, Vancouver’s 15% cut reflects an effort to align per-student state funding across the WSU system.
“When you look at the Vancouver, Tri-Cities and Everett campuses, Vancouver receives substantially more state funding per student — about $2,500 more per student,” Sinnott explained to faculty last week. “So I think the board used that metric as a sign that Vancouver could withstand a larger budget reduction.”
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Both Sinnott and Haynes said the approved budget cuts seek to minimize impacts to students, jobs and research at the campus. They said they would not be adopting a “do more with less” attitude in the coming fiscal year.
But those statements are doing little to calm the frustration and fears that some faculty and staff are feeling over the mandated reductions.
“Those cuts will be felt by the students. Those cuts will diminish the quality of instruction at WSU Vancouver,” said WSU English professor Desiree Hellegers. “What we’re really seeing is a divestment from Southwest Washington.”
Hellegers has taught at the Vancouver campus for 33 years. She plans to retire this fall, partly to help shield some of her colleagues from layoffs.
“I know there’s a lot of young professors who may be on the chopping block,” Hellegers said. “To me, it’s kind of a question of, ‘What are administrators willing to sacrifice, themselves, in order to avert the worst of the damage?’”
