As many of you heard at the Chancellor Forum on Sept.16, we are pleased to report some very encouraging numbers related to the fall census.

Thanks to the efforts of many of you working directly with students in the classroom and in support services, we are pleased to report that total fall 2025 enrollment is 0.9% above fall 2024, and 2.7% over the June budget projections. New first-year undergraduates increased 5.6% and continuing undergraduate students increased 1%, compared to the prior year, driven by strong growth in Colorado residents. Another impressive statistic reported is that CU Denver saw a record-matching, first-to-second-year retention rate of over 76%. This is another significant contributing factor to our overall financial stability.

While new graduate student enrollment is down 2.4% and overall graduate enrollment is down 1.6%, this was not unexpected, given the challenging national and international landscape that affects our graduate students, such as fluctuations in grant funding and barriers for international students.

As a result of these numbers, we are pleased to report that the revenue threshold contingency has been met, and the 2.5% pool for merit and compression, retention, and adjustment pay is fully funded. The merit process will begin in October for January paychecks. The compression, retention, and adjustment pay processes are under review, with more to come in the next few weeks. It should come as no surprise that the higher our enrollment and the more students we retain from year to year, the more promising our financial picture looks. To illustrate this point, the chancellor noted during the forum that it takes the tuition of three resident students to make up for the loss of tuition from one international student.

Even with the slight decline in international enrollment and the nearly half-a-million-dollar reduction in state funding from the current fiscal year budget, we were able to see a revenue surplus of slightly more than $3 million as compared to the budget approved by the Board of Regents in June. That revenue will be used to reduce the structural budget deficit for this year as we assess needed investments based on the ever-changing federal landscape and get a clearer picture of what our spring enrollment numbers look like—something which also will impact our revenue.

At CU Denver, enrollment is critical—not just as a way of measuring whether we are fulfilling our public service mission—because it is the foundational component to making sure our university budget is healthy. Think of recruitment, retention, and our campus expenses creating an ecosystem. If all areas are healthy and balanced, we achieve harmony. If not, we run into challenges that impact our ability to invest in new programs and services for our students and to invest in our employees.

Let’s celebrate where we are starting from in this new academic year and not lose focus on the continuing need to influence growing enrollment. We must continue to align ourselves to improve our recruitment and retention efforts and to hold the line on expenses where we can.

As we engage in this fall’s Strategic Plan refresh, we will continue to meet our moment together as we work to serve our eager learners looking to make a difference in their lives and their communities.

We thank you all for remaining steadfast in your commitment to student success as our CU Denver community lives out our fundamental mission of making education work for all.

Ann Sherman, Executive Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration

Zina Evans, Vice Chancellor for Strategic Enrollment and Student Success