During the 2025 General Session, the Legislature passed H.B. 265, “Higher Education Strategic Reinvestment” which, in connection with House Bill 1, “Higher Education Base Budget” created the framework for reallocating existing resources within the state’s higher education budget. Broadly, Strategic Reinvestment requires each of the eight public, degree-granting colleges or universities to create a plan that repurposes funding for programs and divisions which warrant additional investment.
Reinvestment Budgets
As discussed in a previous post, the Legislature appropriates funding to functional expenditure categories. The largest appropriation unit for each institution is ‘Instruction’. To determine the amount each institution was required to reinvest, the Legislature moved a sum equal to 10% of the Instruction appropriation at each school into a new line item called “Strategic Reinvestment,” which is budgeted under the Utah Board of Higher Education. In total, $60.5 million was set aside for this effort. The amount to be reinvested at each institution is as follows:
| Institution | Amount |
|---|---|
| Salt Lake Community College | $5,246,800 |
| Snow College | $1,678,700 |
| Southern Utah University | $3,176,000 |
| University of Utah | $19,585,200 |
| Utah State University | $12,645,300 |
| Utah Tech University | $2,555,100 |
| Utah Valley University | $8,904,800 |
| Weber State University | $6,660,800 |
| Total | $60,452,700 |
Reinvestment Process and Requirements
Although the funding identified for reinvestment came from universities’ Instruction budget, UCA 53B-7-107(3)(b) clarifies that the funding can be reallocated from various sources within the institution, including specific programs, courses, departments, and even administrative positions. Statute also outlines seven key criteria that each plan must include:
- Demonstrated enrollment data;
- Completion and timely completion rates;
- Discipline-related professional outcomes, such as employment, licensure, and wages;
- Current and future workforce demands, both localized and statewide;
- Program-level costs;
- The institution’s unique mission and role within the statewide system; and
- Retention of a core general education curriculum that helps students develop critical thinking and communication skills.
The Legislature empowered the Board of Higher Education to establish additional standards for reallocations and to provide institutions with metrics and evaluative processes for use in developing strategic plans. The Board has approved policies for how to statistically evaluate the merit to students of particular programs, and to encourage institutions to focus their reinvestments on expanding educational opportunities for fields with high-demand workforce fields.
Approval and Implementation
In acknowledgement of the reality of the time needed to make these reinvestments, the Legislature allowed for a three-year implementation timeline and required a minimum of 30% of funds to be reinvested in Fiscal Year 2026, 70% in Fiscal Year 2027, and the entire amount by Fiscal Year 2028.
Institutions worked through the spring and early summer to finalize their strategic reinvestment plans, which they then presented to the Utah Board of Higher Education on June 6 and August 12. The Board found the plans compliant, and the institutions presented their plans to the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee on August 19, and to the Executive Appropriations Committee on September 15. The Executive Appropriations Committee found seven of the eight plans compliant, requiring Utah State University (USU) to return again once a new, permanent president of the university is appointed and has an opportunity to review and revise the plan.
Having received approval of their plans, the remaining seven institutions are now authorized to begin executing their reinvestment plans after receiving funds from the Board of Higher Education. USU will likely seek approval early in 2026, or once a new president has been selected.
A summary of each institution’s strategic reinvestment plan can be found here and the presentation that each institution gave to the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee and Executive Appropriations Committee can be found below:
- Salt Lake Community College
- Snow College
- Southern Utah University
- University of Utah
- Utah State University
- Utah Tech University
- Utah Valley University
- Weber State University
All institutions will be required to submit progress reports in 2026 and in 2027, and must go through the same approval process to request any modifications to their plans.