ASU details impact of state cuts to higher ed funding

Arizona State University will add a tuition surcharge for on-campus students in spring 2025 and the Arizona Teachers Academy faces an uncertain future, the result of recent budget cuts passed by the state Legislature and signed by the governor.

More than 2,600 Arizona resident students also could be impacted by the expected decrease in ASU’s allocation for the Arizona Promise Scholarship Program, and the university will stop operations and close its Lake Havasu center in the summer of 2025.

“These necessary actions reflect the continuing lack of public investment from state government for higher education in Arizona,’’ ASU President Michael M. Crow said. “ASU simply cannot be asked to fund the expansion of higher education across the state without state investment as a part of the financial structure to do so. These budget cuts put the state of Arizona even further behind in ensuring that Arizona has the talent and workforce necessary to advance its economy.” 

The actions taken are intended to ensure that ASU remains financially sound in the face of the defunding of public investment in higher education in the state of Arizona. The recent state budget, passed by the state Legislature and signed by the governor, reduced by $11 million the base operating investment in Arizona State University from public resources. The state also reduced funding for statewide programs such as the Arizona Teachers Academy and the Arizona Promise Scholarship Program, pushing the estimated real ASU impact from the budget reductions to about $24 million when compared with the prior year.

“We have to consider our options to advance the university in a financially sound way,” Crow said. “For whatever reason, state leaders want the public universities to be tuition-driven, independently funded and to advance on their own.”

The state provides less than 9% of ASU’s total funding. Arizona invests half of what is invested per capita on higher education in Texas and Florida, and one-quarter of what is invested in Wyoming. 

In FY 2024, according to Forbes, Arizona was one of just nine states that reported declines in total public investment in higher education. And when adjusted for population, Forbes noted that Arizona had the second-lowest per capita funding — and less than half of the national per capita average. 

Faced with these reductions in public investment in higher education: 

• The university will add a tuition surcharge in spring 2025 for on-campus students. The surcharge will be about $350 for full-time students and a proportional amount for part-time students. ASU has increased tuition at a rate lower than inflation for the past eight years.  
• About 800 new students will not be served through the Arizona Teachers Academy. The academy launched in 2018, sparking an increase in new enrollment in ASU’s teacher-preparation programs every fall between 2018 and 2023. Much of that growth is attributed to the Arizona Teachers Academy award, which ensures that recipients have their tuition and fees covered in return for a commitment to teach in Arizona public schools.  
• More than 2,600 students could be impacted by the expected decrease of $10.9 million in ASU’s allocation for the Arizona Promise Program when compared to the prior year allocation.
• Closing the Lake Havasu center will impact about 225 ASU students and 20 jobs. 

ASU at Lake Havasu began in 2012 to bring an innovative higher education approach to a location unserved by the state university system. The center evolved into a close-knit ASU community of hundreds of students who enjoyed studying business, health, psychology and more in western Arizona on the California state line. 

University Provost Nancy Gonzales said the university will engage with every current ASU student there and finalize individual plans to make sure they can continue at an ASU campus or online to complete their degrees. Area high school dual-enrollment students also will be impacted. Of the lost jobs, some could be transferred to other academic units throughout ASU. 

“It’s disappointing that state leaders do not see the value of higher education in places like Lake Havasu City,” Gonzales said. “ASU will continue to do all that it can to serve that portion of the state through ASU Online and agreements with our community college partners.”