Eastern Washington University’s Board of Trustees met Oct. 10 to approve tuition rates for the 2026–27 academic year, review a new housing proposal, and receive updates on university enrollment trends.
During the meeting, trustees and administrators addressed ongoing challenges linked to declining student numbers, affordability, and campus infrastructure — framing each discussion around the university’s goal of remaining “enrollment responsive” and financially sustainable.
Vice President for Business and Strategy Max Baca and Chief Financial Officer Toni Habegger presented the tuition plan, which includes a 3.3% increase in resident undergraduate tuition beginning fall 2026, consistent with state wage growth guidelines. Graduate and nonresident tuition rates will remain flat.
Provost Lorenzo Smith and Associate Vice President Jens Larson reported that overall enrollment has seen a small decline across undergraduate, dual-credit, and graduate populations compared to Fall 2024, based on preliminary fall 2025 census data.
Larson described the trend as part of a long-term stabilization, noting that transfer enrollment has reached “one of the first periods of stability in almost 15 years.”
Smith highlighted EWU’s highest-demand majors, such as psychology, biology, and mechanical engineering, as “very consistent with the job demands that you see in the state,” while cautioning that declining enrollment makes it “harder for us to maintain programs that are on the lower-demand side.”
The board also reviewed a new student housing proposal presented by Vice President Lea Jarnagin and Vice President Max Baca, with support from Ann Volz of the Volz Company and EWU President Shari McMahan.
The plan recommends constructing a 350- to 400-bed residence hall to align campus capacity with projected freshman enrollment.
“We believe that this proposal is enrollment sensitive and enrollment responsive,” McMahan said, noting that the new hall would serve part of the roughly 67% of first-year students who live on campus each year.
