Emporia State president tells Committee on Government Efficiency three‑year overhaul cut deficit, held tuition flat

Emporia State University President Ken Hush told the Committee on Government Efficiency that a three‑year internal review and a set of operational changes have reduced the university’s debt and produced savings while the school kept tuition and fees from rising.

Hush said the review — begun after leadership changes and completed through a campuswide analysis, program reviews and 0‑based budgeting — revealed what he described as a roughly $12 million deficit and “a lot of bleeding” across campus operations. He said the university has cut and reallocated resources, reduced total debt, passed savings on to students and avoided asking the state for new capital funding until the university “look[ed] at ourselves and clean[ed] up.”

The overhaul, Hush said, began with broad campus feedback and formation of 14 activity groups that produced profit‑and‑loss reviews of departments and programs. “Everything we do should be focused around that — students, students, students,” Hush said. He described a three‑year investment horizon for changes, not just one‑year budget trims.

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