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Fort Hays State reports tuition gains, capital project timing and a recovering FTE after multi-year declines
Summary
Fort Hays State told regents it saw an FTE increase last year, tuition revenue rose after a tuition increase, capital spending timing explains current low capital outlays, and the university aims to sustain affordability while investing in student success.
Wesley Winch, chief financial officer for Fort Hays State University, told the Board of Regents Fiscal Affairs Committee on March 12 that Fort Hays reversed several years of decline with an increase in full-time equivalent students in fiscal year 2024 and is managing capital project timing and operational expenses.
Winch said about 60% of the university's students are resident Kansans and that the campus posted an FTE increase of roughly 331 students last year, including 173 native Kansans. He emphasized the growth in several on-campus undergraduate programs — including nursing, social work, history and informatics — and said first-time, full-time freshmen were up for fall 2024.
On revenues, Winch explained that Fort Hays' tuition collections increased partly because the university raised tuition in 2024; online modalities still represent a large portion of tuition revenue at about 55% while on-campus represented about 31% and cross-border about 14% in fiscal year 2024. He presented a midyear snapshot (as of Dec. 31) projecting roughly $43 million in tuition revenue and said the campus had spent about 47% of its expenses at midyear.
Winch explained a timing effect for capital spending: the campus had $17 million in capital improvements in the budget but had spent only about 9.3% of that because roughly $15 million is allocated to the Stroop Hall project; design documents are about 60% complete and construction is expected to start this summer, so much of the capital spending will occur next year and the year after.
On debt and reserves, Winch said the memorial union bond will be fully paid off in about May and the university's debt service remains manageable at about 1.3% of revenues. The university's composite financial index rose to about 5.0 in the most recent year; Winch said that level is healthy for the institution and that much of the recent rise reflected favorable foundation returns.
Winch listed fiscal challenges common across institutions — enrollment pressures, inflationary cost and compensation pressures, and political/regulatory uncertainty — and highlighted strengths including affordability and strategic program growth through affiliations with technical colleges and other partners that, he said, are beginning to produce pathway students.
Regents asked about early affiliate impacts and whether Fort Hays is tracking revenue and enrollment outcomes from affiliated pathways; Winch said systems are being set up to track affiliate student flows but that quantified revenue figures are not yet available. Regent discussion also touched on sustaining higher operating expense levels achieved during recent years and the role of state stabilization funding in maintaining strategic initiatives.
