Dive Brief:
- Walla Walla Community College, in Washington, could lay off 43 faculty and staff members as its governing board considers a plan to cut $4.3 million from its budget.
- College trustees have also been mulling a plan to downsize or close entirely its satellite campus in Clarkston, Washington. Final decisions could be voted on by the board next month, according to the college.
- The community college faces structural budget shortfalls from rising operating costs and reduced state funding. The board discussed the possibility of declaring a financial emergency in the near future, according to meeting minutes.
Dive Insight:
WWCC is working with its board to finalize a plan on the cuts by mid-April so that a budget for the 2026-27 academic year is ready for board approval in June, a college spokesperson said Friday in an email. A statement from the college noted that no final decisions have been made.
The governing board is considering multiple plans for both employee cuts and its Clarkston campus.
Changing nothing at Clarkston — which would mean a $23,500 increase in operating costs for the institution — remains on the table as well.
The board is also contemplating nixing all programming at Clarkston but its nursing and health programs, which are offered at both campuses. That plan would save the college a net of $1.3 million, according to board documents.
Clarkston currently enrolls 82 nursing students and spends about $2 million on salaries for the program, according to a March 16 presentation from the board’s budget committee. Enrollment in Clarkston’s nursing program has declined over the decade, with a sharp drop during the pandemic era.
Closing the campus entirely would save $3.2 million, according to a presentation at a March meeting.
At the meeting, WWCC faculty and staff as well as community members raised concerns about making cuts or closing Clarkston, meeting documents show. The Moscow-Pullman Daily News reported many residents from neighboring areas were “shocked” to learn the campus could close when the possibility was first floated in March.
As for the layoffs, trustees are mulling multiple scenarios that would reduce staff and faculty at both campuses. The scenarios vary by how many staff and faculty would be cut and at which campus, but each of them would ultimately cut 43 employees over six years — 18 of them in the first year.
More than two dozen WWCC faculty and staff members spoke out against the cuts at a March 16 meeting, pointing to the impact they would have on students, employees, the community and the regional economy.
“Like many colleges across Washington State, WWCC is facing financial pressures from changes in state funding and rising expenses,” the college said Friday in an emailed statement. “We recognize that this creates uncertainty, and we are approaching this process with care, transparency, and a deep understanding of how important the college is to our students, employees, and communities."
Total enrollment at WWCC has dropped dramatically in recent years. Between 2021 and 2024, fall headcount dipped 3.8% to 2,967 students, according to federal data. That figure is down 19.2% from five years prior and 38.8% from 2014.
With expenses increasing, the college posted deficits in fiscal years 2024 and 2022 even as its state appropriations have grown. In 2024, its operating costs jumped by 8.6% year over year to $60.5 million.
And now the college is facing $3 million in state funding reductions over six years because of a new allocation model, according to the WWCC spokesperson.
