Washington State University has a balanced operating budget for the first time since 2013.
The WSU Board of Regents Friday applauded the system’s return to the black, commending President Kirk Schulz, faculty, and staff for achieving the goal a full year ahead of schedule.
The operating deficit had grown to about $30 million annually, nearly depleting a reserve fund that at one point topped $120 million. Expanded classroom space, the new medical college, construction of new athletic facilities, and other priorities depleted the reserves to help cover the annual cost of operating the university system.
In 2017, Schulz ordered all departments to develop plans to increase revenue or reduce spending by 2.5 percent per year through 2020. It worked, as the latest figures from the close of the 2019 fiscal year, which ended June 30th, show WSU’s operating budget ended with a positive balance of about $7.8 million. Initially, the university was projected to have its first balanced operating budget during the 2020 fiscal year.
Meanwhile, progress also is being made on the Athletics Department’s annual operating deficit, which has shrunk from $13.7 million in fiscal year 2014 to a projected $7.1 million at the end of the most recent fiscal year.
Athletics is on track to eliminate its annual deficit by fiscal year 2024. (WSU)
