University of Utah trustees approve budgets for upcoming fiscal year

SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah's board of trustees on Tuesday approved budgets for U. Health, ARUP Laboratories and the general university-wide operating budget.

This year marked the first time the trustees have taken such an active role in the budget process, following the passage of SB240 during the 2026 legislative session, which gave institutional higher education boards a more hands-on role in budgets, audits, and presidential evaluations.

The good news, U. chief financial officer Gary McArthur noted during Tuesday's meeting, is the university is projected to have $10.6 billion in total revenue for fiscal year 2027, up from $10.2 billion in 2026.

Over the past half-decade, the U. has bolstered its financial strength, driven in part by a nearly 4,000-student enrollment jump from 2021 to 2026.

During that same period, general revenues increased by nearly $4 billion, research revenue grew from $641 million to $782 million and the university's endowment almost doubled to $2.1 billion, according to the U.'s budget review report.

"We're doing some amazing things," McArthur said in a release.

But the U. has lofty goals, many associated with U. President Taylor Randall's promise to create "college town magic" at the university.

"We want to be a top-10 public institution with unsurpassed societal impact. That means, specifically, that we take each one of our students and make sure they have outstanding outcomes, which we will measure by 80% graduation rates and 90% job placement rates," Randall said in March 2025. "Much of that plan will focus on that student success, particularly as you see the way we build out an infrastructure for students living and thriving on our campus."

Along with boosting graduation and job placement rates and attaining national recognition, the U. also has plans to build an approximately 45-acre, 200,000-square-foot medical campus at The Point development in Draper.

That joins two other expansions in the new cancer care center in Vineyard and a new West Valley City hospital, both set to open in 2028.

McArthur said the U. will invest significantly to achieve Randall's vision and that funding will come from bonding, improving operational performance, and increased philanthropy.

"State funding is just 6% of the university's operating revenue, lower than what is received for most like institutions. And the university faces headwinds from reduced federal funding and changes to government reimbursements to hospitals," said a release from the university.

To that end, the university will be implementing several initiatives over the next year to improve operating margins, "so that when we get into Fiscal Year 2028, we're in a better place," McArthur said.

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