The University of Northern Colorado plans to lay off approximately 50 staff positions later this year to address an anticipated budget deficit of $14 million into 2027.
UNC President Andy Feinstein and vice president for finance and administration and CFO Dale Pratt made the announcement during a 3-hour town hall Thursday afternoon. More than 700 people attended either in person at a University Center ballroom or online, according to UNC.
Feinstein and Pratt opened the town hall with presentations beginning at 1:30 p.m., and the men fielded questions from faculty, students and staff until almost 5 p.m.
A review on identifying positions to cut is currently taking place at the department and unit levels, and it’s expected to be completed in early November. No offices will be spared evaluation for cuts including athletics and the president’s office, Feinstein said.
No faculty layoffs are planned at this point. Faculty will be reduced only through retirement or non-renewal of temporary contracts.
“The faculty circumstance of their employment is unique and won’t follow that same pattern, but there are changes being considered for faculty,” Pratt said. “Those occur every year as we consider the needs for delivering on our curriculum commitments for students.”
University of Northern Colorado President Andy Feinstein, left, and vice president for finance and administration and CFO Dale Pratt during a UNC town hall Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025 at the University Center in Greeley. Feinstein and Pratt announced the need for layoffs of approximately 50 staff positions later this year to address an anticipated budget deficit of about $14 million into 2027. (Anne Delaney/Staff Reporter)This is not the first time in recent history UNC has faced elimination of positions or layoffs. In March 2019, less than a year after Feinstein took office, approximately 80 vacant exempt and classified staff and faculty positions were eliminated. In the same round, 11 exempt and classified staff were laid off as the university dealt with a $10 million structural deficit.
“Budget conversations are not new to us,” Feinstein said. “We’ve been having these since I arrived almost eight years ago, and we have continued to successfully work together to ensure that we are financially stable.”
Pratt emphasized the university’s financial health during his presentation. UNC had approximately $63 million cash balance at the end of fiscal year in June. The university’s Composite Financial Index, or CFI, used in higher education to gauge a financial picture, is solid and acceptable by the state at 2.84, Pratt said. UNC has a stable credit rating outlook this year, which is much improved status from post-COVID-19.
Classified staff are employees in a position part of the Colorado Classified State Personnel System. The system is merit based, meaning all jobs are filled based on applications measured against similar standards. Classified staff are generally paid hourly wages.
Exempt staff, also known as professional staff, are salaried employees in administrative roles.
The most recent cuts will amount to a 6.5% reduction in the UNC operating budget through June 2027.
UNC is looking at an estimated $7 million deficit for the current fiscal year that started July 1 and ends June 30, 2026. Anticipating needs and expenditures beyond 2026, the university is also targeting about $7 million in cuts stretching into mid-2027.
There are a variety of factors behind the deficit including: a changed enrollment forecast this summer, lower than anticipated employee attrition or turnover and not enough state funding.
Pratt said in a 3-week period between the end of June and late July, UNC went from improving its undergraduate enrollment by 82 students to a difference of only five more students from previous year showings.
“A completely unexpected shift,” Pratt said. “That change was really a profound thing that we’re still analyzing to understand what occurred here.”
He said the explanation in part might lie with changes in federal policy, tightening on international student admissions, and with state funding.
A portion of attendees at a town hall at the University of Northern Colorado on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025 listen as UNC President Andy Feinstein and vice president for finance and administration and CFO Dale Pratt announce the layoffs of approximately 50 staff members later this year. The job cuts are happening to allow UNC to address an anticipated $14 million budget deficit through 2027. (Anne Delaney/Staff Reporter)
“The fact of the matter is that we’re spending more money than we’re receiving,” Feinstein said. “We need to find ways to reduce that.”
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