BUZZ
Low enrollment is forcing the University of Oregon to slash $65 million from its budget and shutter two dorms.
“Based on our new numbers, we will need to cut around $65 million from our budget to avoid an ongoing annual budget deficit in the coming years,” President Karl Scholz recently announced to the campus community.
He primarily blamed lower out-of-state first-year enrollment, which means lower tuition revenue, and instituted a hiring and pay freeze.
Other factors cited at a June 1 Board of Trustees meeting include increased costs and a loss in grant funding.
The university on June 2 announced it will shutter two off-campus dorm as it grapples with the budget shortfall. It will close Barnhart Residence Hall and Barnhart Dining Hall and shutter Riley Hall for the 2026–27 academic year, the Daily Emerald reported. If some students need to be housed, Riley Hall will serve as an overflow dorm.
Despite the closures, UO is still building two new dorms, the Register-Guard reported, adding “UO has opened three new dormitories in the past five years.”
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