The Arizona Board of Regents is seeking $732.2 million in state funding to make up for the $96.9 million lost for the 2025 fiscal year that's led to significant budget cuts for the state's public universities.
The three universities lost more than $23 million in operational cuts — NAU's budget decreased by about $4 million, and UA's by nearly $8 million.
ASU's budget shrunk the most, as the Arizona state budget has reduced it by almost $11 million.
The remainder of cuts — nearly $74 million — went toward statewide scholarships and University programs.
Justine Hecht, a doctoral student studying justice studies, said the rising cost of tuition — due to University budget cuts — is putting pressure on their education.
"I pay for my graduate education now out of pocket, and I budget very specifically around what I know the tuition is going to be at the beginning of the year so that I can make sure that I have my payments ready on time," Hecht said.
Arizona is ranked 46th in the country for state support of higher education, according to ABOR. The ABOR Executive Director Chad Sampson said the state of Arizona has been "disinvesting" in higher education for nearly 20 years.
"The state has to make difficult choices with the budget," Sampson said. "We just want to make sure that they insert that one of their top priorities for the state of Arizona so we can be most competitive, has to be public higher education."
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Due to these rapid changes, ASU has added a surcharge of about $350 to all full-time students' tuition and a "proportional" amount for part-time students.
Hecht said the increase would mean they will likely take on summer work, which would slow down their doctoral process. They said that it is difficult to hear the University say they will support them when it feels like students are one of "the first people in line to take on this burden."
Dave Wells, research director for the Grand Canyon Institute, said that over a billion dollars in cuts were made in the 2024 fiscal year, which ended last June, and later in fiscal year 2025.
"It's always bad news for universities because universities are not formula-funded, so they become one of the key targets of the state," Wells said.
Formula funding is the action of the federal government to distribute funds to a state agency or other entities that are later allocated to other eligible organizations.
Wells said that universities attempt to regain funding by pushing for more out-of-state and international students because the cost of tuition for them is higher.
As for ASU Online tuition, "They charge essentially a similar amount to students on campus, at least in-state students on campus, but their cost of operations are significantly less," Wells said.
Hecht said they feel the issue is with ABOR, suggesting the administration "complicitly complies" every time there is a budget cut. The administration needs to take a stronger stance and fight back with the students, she added.
Wells has a different suggestion: ABOR should sue the state.
"One of the problems is that though the Arizona Constitution specifies that universities be as close to free as possible, there is no funding formula that the legislature follows," Wells wrote in an email.
In 2021, the Arizona Students Association attempted to launch a ballot initiative to make education more affordable. The ballot initiative, named "As Nearly Free As Possible Act," would have required the Arizona Legislature to fund at least half of tuition and fees for undergraduate resident students.
However, Wells said if students were to attempt to sue for the current situation, the downside of a lawsuit is that it could take a few years to resolve, so students affected by the budget cuts now might not see a settlement.
"The board is very committed to working with all policymakers and all the stakeholders," Sampson said. "That's not just the legislature, the governor — but the chambers, the employers (and) everybody that has taken this (on) to make sure that higher education in the state is getting funded."
Edited by George Headley, Abigail Beck and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at elbradfo@asu.edu and follow @emmalbradford__ on X.
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Emma is a sophomore studying journalism and mass communication and political science, with a minor in business. This is her second semester with The State Press.
