WKU’s new budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year has been released and is awaiting approval from the Board of Regents meeting on Friday. 

The proposed budget plans to increase tuition by $210. This increases the tuition amount to $6,246 per semester, a 1.85% increase. 

“I am generally concerned by the budget proposal that would increase the cost of attending WKU for students and their families,” Caden Lucas, president of the Student Government Association and soon to be student regent, said. “Ultimately, students deserve both a high-quality education and an affordable way to achieve it.”

WKU has an operating budget of $405.1 million for the 2026-27 fiscal year. Tuition and fees account for 47% of the university’s revenue. The second-largest contributor is state appropriations, which account for 21% of WKU’s revenue. 

Going into the 2027 fiscal year, WKU’s state appropriation decreased by 1% to $775,100, bringing the total down to $86 million. While base-state appropriation funds were not affected, performance funding for the university decreased by 17% from $5.2 million to $4.3 million. 

Student financial aid, the second largest expenditure for WKU, saw a 3% total decrease down to $119 million. Aid coming from WKU went down by $3 million, now sitting at $51 million. 

Grants and contracts for students coming from outside the university also contributed to the decrease. In sum, grants and contracts experienced a 6% decrease, bringing funding from $78 million to $73.7 million. Most significantly, College Access Program grants were cut by $1 million and Pell grant funding went from a flat $29 million to $28.6 million. 

The College of Education and Behavioral Sciences received an 8% decrease in its expenses, which include salaries, maintenance and supply costs. All other colleges received a 2% increase in their expenses, except for Ogden, which received a 2% decrease. 

The gross fee revenue for each academic college:

• College of Education and Behavioral Sciences: $1,834,300
• College of Health and Human Services: $4,553,700
• Gordon Ford College of Business: $1,100,000
• Ogden College of Science and Engineering:  $1,250,000
• Potter College of Arts and Letters: $1,187,000

For the 2024-2025 academic year, WKU saw a retention rate of 79.4% among first-time, first-year students. This is an increase from 78.3% the year prior. 

WKU also hit its highest six-year graduation rate in the university’s history, with the budget reporting it increased from 57.9% to 59.1%. Similarly, four-year graduation rates now come in at 50.7%. 

In total, WKU awarded 3,624 undergraduate degrees and credentials for the 2024-2025 academic year. Its award rates were second in the state, falling right behind the University of Kentucky with 5,671.