FY27 Budget Development

January 23, 2026

Dear SLU faculty and staff,  

We recently began developing the fiscal year 2027 budget with a process designed to enable strategic, enterprise-wide decision making on our allocations for the upcoming year.

As you’re aware, our current (fiscal year 2026) budget is the second in a three-year effort to align the University’s expenditures with revenues by reducing spending by $20M each year. As I shared in my August message, in FY26 we moved away from a practice of making uniform reductions across top-level academic and administrative divisions. Instead, we allocated budget reductions differentially across divisions with the goal of protecting the University’s core priorities in education and research, and divisional leaders made strategic allocations within their units as per longstanding practice. I could not be more grateful for the careful thinking and difficult decisions that leaders, faculty and staff have made to help us implement this multi-year effort.

With more time to plan for fiscal year 2027, the process we’re following for this third year of reductions will facilitate even more extensive enterprise-level analysis of our options. Ultimately, we hope to combine targeted spending reductions with selected investments so that we achieve a balanced budget and simultaneously position ourselves to move out of a cycle of year over year budget cuts – accelerating this process with the launch of our new strategic plan. Of course, we’re doing this under conditions that are challenging with respect to enrollment, especially international enrollment, and continued high uncertainty related to federal policy and research funding.

For this year’s planning process, I have asked vice presidents and deans to:  

• Model scenarios in which spending in their units is reduced by 3%, 5%, or 7%, paying close attention to activities that could be discontinued, paused, or reimagined to meet those reductions; and
• Propose specific initiatives that are mission-aligned and will grow enrollment and/or improve operations and generate net revenue. Many of the most promising initiatives are likely to span two or more academic and administrative divisions. I have encouraged leaders to flag those so that we can facilitate collaboration and avoid letting our organizational structure hinder opportunities to grow or improve.

As they consider potential reductions and investments, executive officers are charged with looking beyond what is best for their individual unit to focus on what serves the greater good of the University, the students we serve, and our research and creative work.

I want to stress that the 3‑5‑7 budget planning scenarios are a tool to help leaders explore a range of options so that we arrive at well‑informed decisions. They are intended to support creative thinking and thoughtful analysis.

With the nuanced and detailed plans that unit leaders provide, the Cabinet will develop a prospective budget that will include: expense reductions that are variable by unit; support for strategic plan components; and resources for initiatives that will increase revenue, enhance operational excellence, and amplify SLU’s reputation and impact.

We will share ongoing budget updates by email and seek input from the Budget Working Group, the Faculty Senate, and the Staff Advisory Committee. Thank you for your engagement and your commitment to SLU’s success.  

Sincerely,

Edward Feser, Ph.D.
President