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When I became president of the University of ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ last October, the institution had faced a challenging year.

It was struggling with a , negative press and low morale. It was clear that we needed to turn things around quickly.

Thanks to the contributions of many, we have re-envisioned how we operate and restored balance to our finances, positioning the university to truly fulfill its land-grant mission.

In the process, we have elevated our commitments to students, faculty, staff, and the communities and industries we partner with across ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥.

I am pleased to share that we have eliminated the deficit, implemented tighter operational controls and built a stronger, more sustainable foundation.

We emphasized transparency and accountability

Starting this fiscal year, we are now operating with a balanced budget that provides well-deserved raises for faculty and staff. It also holds tuition flat for resident undergraduate students.

We will release the budget this fall.

These choices reflect our commitment to access, affordability and student success — and the fiscal discipline to sustain them.

When I arrived in Tucson, progress had been made, but our work was far from finished. We sharpened our focus and made difficult but necessary decisions.

This effort required close collaboration with the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Board of Regents and dedicated work by deans, faculty, staff and administrative leaders across campus.

We approached the process with purpose, emphasizing transparency and accountability, while providing regular updates to rebuild trust throughout our university community.

5 strategies helped UA balance its budget

The university’s turnaround enables us to boldly invest in our students and programs that engage every county across ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥. Our success was anchored in five strategies:

Operational efficiency: We lowered operating expenditures by $95 million since 2024, driven by more than a 22% reduction in administrative costs. That allowed us to protect academic units, which saw reductions of only 3%. We also restructured university offices, improved the delivery of key campuswide services and optimized how we managed our facilities and billing systems.Revenue growth: We increased net tuition revenue by more than $47 million thanks to strategic reforms in enrollment management and financial aid allocation. We also worked hard to increase university revenues from other sources by $11 million.Modernized athletics operations: ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Athletics increased revenue by $12.5 million, reduced operating costs by $17.6 million and is adapting to a new national landscape with revenue sharing. New accountability standards provide long-term sustainability while we continue to prioritize support for our student-athletes and compete for national championships.Careful financial management: We completed a debt refinancing to improve long-term cost efficiency and limited capital expenditures for the current fiscal year to maintain fiscal flexibility.Improved organizational performance: Auxiliary units, including the campus store, housing, campus health and the student union, delivered stronger financial results.

Every college leader has access to budget data

While eliminating the deficit was a crucial milestone, we are continuing to improve the university’s budget model to support responsible, transparent and data-driven management.

Today, leaders across every college and administrative unit have access to real-time financial data, creating a common understanding of the budget and enabling smarter fiscal planning. Revenues and spending are monitored throughout the year, building a continuous feedback loop that strengthens decision-making.

This collaborative approach establishes fiscal discipline within an environment of creativity and agility. It empowers leaders at every level to innovate and drive success.

UA now offers a three-year medical degree program at the Colleges of Medicine in Tucson and Phoenix to help address the state’s primary care physician shortage, for example, as well as a one-year MBA program to help students advance and quickly enter the workforce.

We’re enrolling students who will thrive at UA

Equally important, we have refined our enrollment strategy to prioritize academic outcomes and enable financial sustainability.

This includes changes to the use of merit-based aid, aligning financial resources with student outcomes, and placing greater emphasis on retention, progression and graduation.

The goal is not the size of our incoming classes, but a focus on enrolling students who will thrive at UA and providing them with the support they need to graduate prepared for the workforce.

The University of ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ educates more than 50,000 students each year.

The Center for World University Rankings places us among the top 0.5% of more than 21,400 colleges and universities worldwide, and Military Times ranks us among America’s Top 5 institutions for service members.

We take great pride in contributing to the economic and social fabric of our state, building partnerships that deliver lasting benefits.

Eliminating the deficit and establishing a solid financial foundation is not the conclusion of the story, but rather the end of one chapter and the beginning of a brighter one.

We are building a better and stronger university because when UA thrives, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ does, too.

This Guest Opinion was originally published in The ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Republic.