University of Utah outlines priorities: AI, energy, genetics, medical school expansion and cost savings

President Taylor R. Randall told the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee that the University of Utah's budget must be viewed as two linked systems: the academic enterprise and its health-care system. He said the combined enterprise is roughly $8.5 billion, with about $515 million in state appropriations; excluding the hospital system, the university's operating footprint is substantially smaller and depends differently on state support.

Why it matters: Randall framed the university's near-term strategy around three technological priorities he said will be central to national competitiveness: artificial intelligence, energy (including nuclear), and genetics. "We may be in a new Sputnik moment," he told the committee, urging the Legislature to consider funding models that reflect the research university's unique role.

Randall described the university's Responsible AI initiative and plans to name a campus AI lead; he said the campus has received hundreds of AI-focused applications for teaching and research and plans cluster faculty hires to expand capacity. He also emphasized the Huntsman Cancer Institute's use of AI to analyze charts for earlier cancer detection in rural areas and the university's interest in expanding its nuclear engineering program.

On genetics, Randall highlighted ongoing gene-therapy research, including a program entering phase 1 trials for a cardiac gene therapy he said could reshape treatment boundaries for heart disease. He linked research with student training, noting that research programs such as Huntsman train hundreds of students while producing clinical advances.

Operational savings and housing: Randall said the university's operational-excellence effort -- a campus team and outside consultant working on multiple improvement projects -- is on track to realize roughly $100 million in cost avoidance or savings over three to five years. He cited a housing-financing redesign that avoided about $48 million in bonding and yielded roughly $18 million in near-term savings.

Affordability and access: Randall presented data showing resident list tuition at roughly $9,600 and an average net price of about $4,000 a year for in-state students after institutional and other aid (a roughly 64% discount off list). He said the university awards about $54 million in institutional aid annually to keep net prices low, but said rising local rents (up about 17% in Salt Lake City since 2021) have made housing the main uncontrolled cost for students. To address that, the university plans to launch an in-state housing scholarship program intended to reduce students' total cost of attendance and improve retention.

Medical school expansion: Randall described a planned partnership with Utah Tech University to establish a Southern Utah Regional Medical Campus in St. George focused on producing primary-care physicians for rural areas. He described an accelerated three-year pathway for students who intend to practice primary care, starting with 10 students and an intention to scale to 25, and said the program will be accredited through the University of Utah. Michelle Hoffman, senior associate dean in the School of Medicine, confirmed the campus will be under University of Utah accreditation and that clinical partners such as Intermountain Health will provide clinical sites across the region.

Performance metrics and completion: Randall reviewed performance funding metrics (timely completion, high-yield awards, access and others). He said the university met high-yield awards in 2024 but missed timely completion and that the university believes part of the shortfall reflects a COVID "echo." The university has implemented a NavigateU program and other interventions to improve on-time graduation and retention, including ensuring degree programs have explicit four-year pathways.

Requests and next steps: Randall said the university will present budget requests this session for funding the St. George medical campus (a request above $3 million to ramp up the program), approval for bonding on the Vineyard hospital project in Utah County, and continued support for Huntsman Cancer Institute projects. He asked the Legislature for continued partnership and said the university would return with additional details as needed.

Ending: Randall said the university's priorities align with industry and state goals to produce STEM graduates and that the university wishes to partner with the Legislature and industry "to be a blessing in the lives of all Utahns."