Dive Brief:
- The University of Providence, in Montana, is moving to shore up its long-term financial sustainability as it seeks to avoid a potential $8 million annual budget gap in the coming years.
- The Catholic university is reviewing its programs and considering staffing cuts. In December, its governing board declared financial exigency, giving it more flexibility to lay off tenured faculty and restructure.
- The institution also aims to raise $16 million over four years from donors and increase enrollment through targeted program expansions and investments in marketing beyond its traditional geographic regions.
Dive Insight:
In a press release last week, University of Providence stressed it “remains open and fully operational.” It also said that university leaders were “focused on transparency, stewardship, and student success as they guide the institution through this important period.”
University leaders expect to make recommendations for programs to close or pause later this spring after they’ve completed a program review that started last fall, President Caroline Goulet told Higher Ed Dive in an email Wednesday. Those actions will not be implemented until at least the 2026-27 academic year to allow time for faculty to weigh in and to create transition plans for students and employees.
The review is “is grounded in program demand, student outcomes, mission alignment, and long-term sustainability,” Goulet said.
As for any potential layoffs, Goulet said they would be “driven by institutional alignment and long-term sustainability rather than a fixed workforce reduction target.”
Chief among the institution’s financial challenges is the forthcoming loss of a regular subsidy. The Providence health system, affiliated with the same religious order that founded the university, plans to cease funding for the University of Providence at the end of 2027. Montana Free Press reported in November that the subsidy amounted to $8 million annually — the amount the university now faces as a deficit.
For fiscal 2026, however, officials don’t expect University of Providence’s budget to have a structural deficit, Goulet told Higher Ed Dive.
She said the university is considering “targeted” academic growth in high-demand areas such as in health sciences and business, as well as offering more online and hybrid options like course-sharing models.
Like many small liberal arts institutions, University of Providence has seen enrollment declines in recent years. Between 2019 and 2024, fall headcount plummeted 23.5% to 763 students, per the latest federal data.
According to the Free Press, fall 2025 enrollment stood at 630 students, a figure that fell short of administrators’ expectations and added to the university’s financial woes.
The exigency will be lifted when the university “shows consistent financial stability, balanced budgets, and adequate reserves," according to an institutional webpage.
