Budget Process: Overview
Background, progress to date, and guiding principles
On May 22, 2026, President Scholz notified the senate president of a projected $65 million structural deficit over the next several years in the University of Oregon’s Education and General (E&G) Fund. The projected structural deficit is due primarily to a significant drop in incoming out-of-state enrollment driven by demographic shifts; the political environment that affects international enrollments; increased competition from peer- and near-peer institutions; and the effects of economic uncertainty on families. These dynamics are not only affecting the University of Oregon: they represent a changing reality across higher education and are likely to be the new market environment to which we must adjust.
In his May 2026 message to the community, President Scholz identified two guiding principles for this process:
- We will invest in the quality of the student experience and make the University of Oregon a destination of choice for more students.
- We will elevate and invest in research strengths that can meet the needs of our communities and industry, attract the best talent, and differentiate this university.
A Renewed Academic Vision
To accomplish our academic vision, the university must focus its educational and research scope, ensuring both appropriate breadth and differentiated programs. To that end, several ideas are emerging, organized by three threads that tie the vision together: research, graduate programs, and the undergraduate experience. These ideas will be further refined and developed over the coming months, so that a shared vision can inform the difficult budget decisions we have to make.
1. Research Confluences
The University of Oregon will not attempt to be comprehensive in every field. Instead, we will concentrate our investments in areas where we can achieve national distinction and where our strengths, geography, and history provide unique advantages. Research confluences are meant to recognize that the way research at the University of Oregon spans a spectrum from the fundamental to the applied and extending into commercialization.
- Brain, Mental Health, Learning, and Prevention
- Biotechnology from Molecules to Therapeutics
- Global Citizenship, Democracy, and Information Ecology
- Materials, Optics, and Emerging Technologies
- Indigenous, Pacific, and Place-Based Arts and Humanities
- Earth, Environment, and Resilience
- Human Health, Performance, and Sport
2. PhD Programs
The research confluences of the University of Oregon must be supported and enhanced by a portfolio of strong PhD programs. Strong is not a synonym for large — smallness paired with high publication rate, short time-to-degree, and external grant support is the signature of a healthy doctoral apprenticeship program. In addition, strong PhD programs must be rooted in excellent disciplines and departments. We will adopt a tiered approach to evaluating PhD programs.
3. Undergraduate Experience
To make the University of Oregon a destination of choice in a period of yield compression and increased competition, we must invest in an undergraduate experience that is distinctive, meaningful, and visible to students and families. That means creating an environment where students feel connected and supported, engage with the university’s research strengths, explore across disciplines, and prepare for fulfilling lives and careers. Career Communities, a disposition-based core education, and unique programs outside traditional majors will help define and strengthen that experience.