PSU’s Strategic Pathway to Financial Sustainability
Portland State University is embracing an ambitious and inspiring vision for its future, guided by the Future in Focus strategic plan. This plan affirms PSU’s role as a welcoming and supportive university committed to providing learners from all backgrounds with access to affordable, high-quality education and the opportunity for a brighter future. As the anchor educational institution in Portland and the region, PSU is dedicated to student success, community engagement and long-term sustainability. Achieving this vision requires that PSU regains its financial footing along with a position of strength and growth, allowing the university to better serve its students, its employees and all of its community partners.
Stewardship at the Core of Our Strategy
At the heart of PSU’s strategy is a commitment to stewardship. Carefully managing our financial, natural, and cultural resources is vital to reaching our aspirations and continuing our important work for our students and communities long into the future. The Bridge to the Future initiative is not a one-time effort but a renewed focus on ongoing stewardship, evaluation and operational adjustment that is guided by our values and informed by data.
A Clear Plan for Financial Sustainability
PSU has set an urgent goal: by November 2024, the university will deliver a plan to the Board of Trustees that addresses a projected $18 million E&G (Education & General) budget deficit. The objective is to close this gap by July 1, 2025. To accomplish this, PSU is focusing on four key areas of financial adjustment:
- Program Revitalization and Curricular Stewardship
PSU will carry out a multi-year approach to driving toward excellence and alignment with the PSU in 2030 vision, recognizing that the structural deficit of $18 million needs to be addressed in the 2025-2026 budget. Adjustments to our academic programs must ensure that, as a whole, the program portfolio:
a. Serves the needs of our students by being high quality, academically rigorous, efficient, and free of barriers to degree completion;
b. Aligns with student and employer demand;
c. Aligns with our purpose, guiding commitments and strategic imperatives; and
d. Generates sufficient revenue, from tuition and state support, to support the operations of the university.
The components of this initiative include program revitalization, vacant position management, faculty workload analysis, curricular stewardship and streamlining, and course enrollment ratio optimization. Our objective is to achieve savings of $8 to 12 million from these steps.
- Operational Excellence
PSU will align its administrative structures to better reflect the university’s current reality. The university will implement many of the recommendations in the Huron Support Services & Operational Review, commissioned in 2021-22, to identify ways the university can optimize its administrative services. Our Operational Excellence plan will build and implement a hybrid model that will consider the most effective way to structure work related to human resources, financial services, and marketing and communications. This is likely to include stronger centralized services and/or federated service centers that take the place of decentralized administrative functions. Our objective is to achieve savings of $2 to $4 million from these steps.
- Faculty Reductions Through Retirement
We are reviewing existing mechanisms to encourage and incentivize retirement, to develop new incentive structures, to honor and reward long-term employees for their service and dedication, and to provide resources to help retirees transition into post-retirement life. As retirements occur, those faculty or staff lines will be either eliminated or retained centrally for strategic investment in growth areas. We are also working with the Retirement Association of Portland State (RAPS) on a plan to improve the experience of retirement and to keep our retirees connected and informed. Currently we are working with the AAUP to finalize the terms of the retirement incentive. We estimate a savings of $2 to $4 million from retirement incentives.
- Immediate Net Revenue Growth
In some limited cases, enrollment and revenue can expand immediately with limited investment through course management, increasing fill rates, and adding course capacity to programs that are restrained but are in high demand. We also have opportunities to increase revenue by better leveraging opportunities to bring students to PSU during summer term. Finally we will continue to improve persistence and retention to increase revenue. We are targeting $1 to $3 million in immediate new revenue to help close the budget deficit.
A Commitment to PSU's Future
The Bridge to the Future initiative is more than a financial plan — it’s a commitment to PSU’s long-term success and sustainability. Through careful stewardship, data-driven decision-making, and a dedication to fostering an inclusive learning environment, PSU will continue to serve as a beacon of opportunity for students, employees, and the community.
By focusing on these strategic adjustments, PSU is laying the groundwork for a future of financial resilience, allowing the university to better fulfill its mission of service to students, employees, and the broader community for generations to come.