Many numbers are up, WSU regents are told

PULLMAN — A sneak peek of the Taylor Sports Complex was revealed at the Washington State University Board of Regents meeting Thursday as the institution awaited final approval for the project.

The regents began a two-day meeting Thursday, and blew through a lengthy list of items including athletics department updates, enrollment reviews, next year’s tuition increase proposal and more.

No action was taken at the meeting. The board will convene today to make decisions on the university’s strategic plan, the 2024 athletics budget and construction projects.

Here’s what the regents discussed during their Thursday meeting:

Athletics

WSU Athletic Director Pat Chun told regents the department sold more than 2,400 single-game tickets at Saturday’s Wisconsin game, and single-game tickets are up 7.5% compared to the last non-Apple Cup year.

The game also set a Gesa Field record for gross sales in concessions. Chun added overall concessions have increased 40%.

Taylor Sports Complex

WSU is working to replace “the bubble,” the institution’s 20-year-old inflatable indoor practice facility, with a permanent fixture, called the Taylor Sports Complex.

The $27.2 million structure is funded fully through private philanthropy — no institution dollars will be used.

The building, located at the east end of the university’s athletics district, will house a 120-yard football field, permanent track, pole vault field and other supporting spaces.

Demolition for the project is estimated to begin in the coming weeks. Construction will start next fall and will be completed by September 2025.

Athletics fiscal year 2023

Jon Haarlow, senior associate athletic director/CFO, reported the department finished fiscal year 2022-2023 with $77.1 million in gross revenue from operations, $89 million in entire expenditures and other accounted financials. Athletics’ total loss was $10.9 million, he said.

Haarlow told regents the department saw a $200,000 surplus in ticket sales, $1.9 million in fundraising and $500,000 in sponsorship and royalties, which are lingering payments in its system.

Athletics was $3.2 million over in sports programs, which included team travel, meals, medical, game and other expenses, he said. Also, a $3 million overrun was shown in other expenses including maintenance, turf replacement, ticketing fees and operating excellence funds tied to revenue.

Haarlow also listed smaller additional expenses.

Enrollment

WSU saw a decrease of almost 4% in enrollment this year compared to last, at 26,490 students in 2023 compared to 27,539 in 2022, Saichi Oba, vice provost for enrollment management, said.

Overall rate of enrollment decline is slowing down. Oba said WSU’s systemwide enrollment was down 3.8% compared to last year, which was 7.7%.

Oba reported first-year student enrollment increased by 0.65%, 4,249 students enrolled in 2023 compared to 3,991 in 2022. He said this year’s incoming class is the largest since before the COVID-19 pandemic. He added this is a big step because the two largest classes, 2018 and 2019, graduated the past two springs.

Tuition

A new Washington state law was put in place this year allowing regents to set the following academic year’s tuition rates earlier. In the past a cap was set by legislators in the spring for the next academic year. Now, tuition increases are capped to the percentage of growth in the median hourly wage of Washington.

WSU is asking regents to continue raising tuition by 3% for 2024-2025. If approved, in-state undergraduate tuition would be raised by $329 to $11,305 for the academic year, and non-resident undergraduate tuition would be increased by $812 to $27,864 for the year.

The regents went over many other items, and a full list of what was discussed can be viewed in documents attached to the board’s agenda.

To view the agenda and documents, visit its website at regents.wsu.edu

Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com