Demi Michelow, president of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), briefed the Joint Appropriations Committee on regional student access programs and cost‑saving initiatives.

Michelow described WICHE’s three major student access programs: the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE), the Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP), and the Professional Student Exchange Program (PSAP). For academic year 2024–25 she reported that 1,367 out‑of‑state students enrolled in Wyoming institutions under WUE and 1,081 Wyoming students used WUE to attend out‑of‑state institutions, saving Wyoming students about $7.5 million in tuition that year.

On graduate offerings, Michelow said WRGP helped about 2,900 students regionally and saved Wyoming students about $1.1 million. On professional health education, she reported that PSAP delivered roughly $2,179,626 in direct tuition savings to Wyoming students in disciplines such as veterinary medicine, dentistry and other health professions. WICHE noted the commission appropriates PSAP funds that the state uses to support students in eight professional fields.

Committee members asked for administrative and dues clarifications; WICHE representatives explained recent budget coding adjustments and confirmed FY27 dues are projected at roughly $180,000. WICHE also reported professional program slot counts for the state (examples given: 11 medicine slots, 25 veterinary medicine slots, 26 physical therapy slots) and noted the PSEP return rate to Wyoming is roughly 55%.

Michelow emphasized WICHE’s cost‑savings contracting for technology and insurance and said these programs produced measurable savings for K‑12 and higher education entities in Wyoming.

Next steps: committee members asked WICHE to provide follow‑up data on slots, return rates by program and more detail on the agency’s budget coding correction.