Here's what state senators are saying about calls to cut higher ed budgets

SALT LAKE CITY – Lawmakers are asking a lot of questions about how Utah will fund and prioritize higher education in the years ahead.

Uncertainty aside, Utah Senate President Stuart Adams is enthusiastic about the Beehive State's public colleges and universities. But he's quick to add that forward thinking is important as legislators prepare for what could be a historic session for Utah's 16 institutions of higher education.

“Higher education is the heartbeat of our economy,” Adams, R-Layton, told the Deseret News, adding that the state needs to stay on the cutting edge of emerging technologies like AI.

“And our educational institutions can help us do that,” he said.

Asked about possible cuts to Utah's public colleges and universities, Adams said “redistribution” is a more appropriate term.

He further said, there is a huge demand for jobs in healthcare, nursing, defense and biotech sectors in the state. “That's the future of our economy — and we need to make sure that we provide incentives and incentives and perhaps reallocate resources to fill those high-end jobs.”

Adams spoke about attending a recent Unified Economic Opportunity Commission meeting chaired by Gov. Spencer Cox and receiving a report documenting the demand for high-paying custom fit engineering jobs. This is an employer need that is not being adequately filled in Utah.

“We need to embed those employers into universities — and we need to embed universities with employers,” he said.

“This kind of relocation is an opportunity for us,” he said.

The Beehive State's higher education system should be designed to propel graduates into “high-paying, high-demand or high-reward” careers, he added.

'What we can do best'

For example, teaching a classroom of Utah students may not be classified as a high-paying job. “But the adrenaline rush you get from teaching is secondary,” Adams said, “but we need to make sure we pay them as well.”

Adams' leadership counterpart on Utah's Capitol Hill — House Speaker Mike Schultz — points to inefficiencies in the state's higher education system that need addressing as he prepares for the 2025 legislative session.

The Senate president acknowledges Utah's colleges and universities can do better.

“We need to rethink and rethink what we can do best in Utah and where the demands are,” he said. “It's an opportunity for us to sit back, reevaluate, and then try to refocus on high-demand areas with the high-paying jobs that our employers are asking for.”

Adams added that when he talks with the organization's president, he gets excited about that direction.

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So one must be careful not to go too far beyond saying that higher education is only good for the career you are training for.

-State Sen. Karen Kwan, D-Murray

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Schultz, R-Hooper, is calling for some four-year bachelor's degrees to become three-year programs, arguing that such a shift would save Utah students and schools money and more efficiently place engineering graduates in high-demand jobs. .

That's sound reasoning, Adams said.

“If (students) can shorten their time in college to three years, that gives them a better chance of being able to get a master's degree or enter the workforce,” he said.

Embedding more apprenticeship programs in Utah's public colleges, Adams added, could also provide many students with essential skills and work experience that cannot be obtained from traditional classroom courses.

So, what will be the best-case scenario for Utah's higher education institutions when the 2025 legislative session ends next March?

For Adams, this will be a session of retooling — while “focusing on our strengths” and “meeting the demand we have for critical industries in Utah.”

Across the street: 'reallocate' with caution

State Sen. Karen Kwan, D-Murray, sits across Adams' political path.

And like the Republican leader, Quan believes in the essential role of higher education in Utah's future.

“But when I hear the word 'redistribution,' I'm very wary because I wonder where things are going to be redistributed,” she told the Deseret News.

Quan said transferring more money to Utah's technical colleges is a good form of relocation. And aligning the higher education system to better position bachelor's degree graduates for high-paying jobs in high-demand industries is a logical strategy.

“But there are some college majors that don't directly translate into a particular field or career at the bachelor's level,” she said.

A professor emeritus at Salt Lake Community College, Kwan points to careers like practicing law as an attorney that require an advanced or terminal degree. An undergraduate student can pursue a variety of undergraduate programs to better prepare for law school.

A psychology major, she added, may have some direct paths into the professional psychology field with just a bachelor's degree — but it's an important step toward graduate study leading to a psychology career. And many of the skills learned while earning a degree in psychology serve graduates well in many professional fields.

“So we have to be careful that we don't get too far from saying that higher education is only good for the career you're training for,” she said.

Kwan hopes her fellow lawmakers won't act too quickly to recalculate “conventional thinking” about the value of higher education.

“We must not eliminate our ability to educate our citizens in all areas,” she said. “I think if we only focus on those areas, it's a disservice not only to Utah, but to the nation,” she said.

A three-year degree program may be the best course for some college students. But again, Quan cautions. The study of higher education provides significant opportunities for an individual to explore new ideas and fields, especially for first-generation college students.

“We're only looking at how to be more efficient with money, we're not looking at the developmental value of education in finding out who students are and what they want to do with their lives,” she said.

And what would be the best case scenario for Kwan?

“I would love to fully fund higher ed,” she said. “Research is very important, as are our technical colleges. And I'd like more students to be supported with resources in ways that make sense to them.”

Kwan added that some institutions of higher education in the state have gone above and beyond HB261 — the so-called Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Bill — called and closed some student support group centers.

“I would love to see the resources provided for all students, and now over, offered in innovative ways,” Kwan said.