Wyoming Colleges and UW Make Their Case: Funding Gaps, Rising Costs and What’s at Stake

The original story by Noah Zahn for Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

Wyoming’s top education leaders spent Wednesday walking lawmakers through a long list of financial pressures — from keeping trade programs alive to managing inflation on energy projects and navigating the rising costs of college athletics. The Joint Appropriations Committee (JAC) got an earful, and the requests came with a clear message: without stable funding, core pieces of Wyoming’s education system are at risk.

The Wyoming Community College Commission (WCCC) kicked things off with an urgent plea for ongoing funding, especially for trade and technical programs that are expensive to run.

Executive Director Laurel Ballard emphasized just how lean the system is:

“We operate with a staff of just 12 full-time employees,” she said. “We’re not just a pass-through for funding — we’re the central nervous system for post-secondary coordination in the state.”

Even with a 5% jump in enrollment this fall — bucking the 6% national decline — the commission said colleges are struggling under funding models tied too heavily to enrollment volatility. Their top ask: $15 million in stable funding for career and technical education (CTE).

Northern Wyoming Community College President Walter Tribley said that steady support matters far more than one-time boosts like Wyoming Works, a separate $9.5 million request for innovation-based programming.

Ballard put it plainly:

“This request is about sustaining high-cost trade programs — welding, nursing — the ones we already have and can’t afford to lose.”

Another surprising topic: the looming dissolution of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 2026. That means Wyoming PBS — run by Central Wyoming College — stands to lose a major stream of system support.

PBS CEO Joanna Kail said the station is asking for $3 million in ongoing state funding simply to replace what’s disappearing.

“This is a service replacement request, not a growth request,” she said. “Wyoming Public Television is owned and operated by Wyomingites, for Wyomingites.”

She also requested $3.6 million in one-time funds to modernize the state’s aging emergency broadcast infrastructure — the system that ensures TV alerts go out during critical situations.

At the University of Wyoming, the School of Energy Resources (SER) offered a different kind of financial headache: inflation.

Acting Executive Director Scott Quillinan asked for $2.09 million in one-time funds to cover rising construction costs for the coal pyrolysis demonstration plant in Gillette, which is already 75% complete.

“If this were to be approved and effective immediately, it could keep us on schedule,” Quillinan told lawmakers.

SER highlighted its strong track record of leveraging state support, noting that $14.5 million in matching funds last biennium turned into $80 million through partnerships.

Athletic Director Tom Burman and men’s basketball coach Sundance Wicks delivered one of the bluntest messages of the day: without help, sports programs may be on the chopping block.

UW Athletics is asking for $6 million over the next biennium, pointing to rising operating costs, shrinking NCAA revenue and new requirements stemming from the House v. NCAA settlement — including medical care mandates and a $550,000 annual revenue loss.

Burman didn’t sugarcoat it:

“We are in a very precarious position… If we do not get the support we are asking for, we will have to make some very difficult decisions. Some may define it as draconian cuts.”

Wicks added that NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) rules and the transfer portal have made recruiting tougher:

“We’ve lost probably three or four recruits just on being outbid.”

Burman stressed that the requested funds are intended to improve student-athlete experience and maintain competitiveness — while keeping academics at the center.

UW President Ed Seidel invited ASUW President Paula Medina to offer a student perspective. She was questioned about political pressures on campus, including concerns about so-called “woke” attitudes and controversial teachings.

Medina said her experience has been one of open dialogue, not ideological pressure.

“Students are free to express themselves… I have not experienced someone dismissing my opinion just because it’s different.”

She also raised a practical issue: the Hathaway Scholarship, beloved but increasingly outdated.

“It no longer covers the full cost of tuition and fees,” she said. “I don’t feel that it meets the intent of the original legislation.”

From community colleges to energy research to athletics, Wyoming’s education leaders all made the same essential argument: costs are rising faster than funding, and key programs could suffer without legislative support.

The JAC now has to decide which needs are urgent, which are aspirational, and which investments will best serve Wyoming’s long-term future — an increasingly tough call as demands pile up.