Washington State University plans to cut 371 jobs and eliminate several academic programs to make up a $54 million deficit in its budget for the next two years.
Major cuts are proposed for the school's core agriculture research and extension programs, plus engineering, liberal arts and sciences. The school's branch campus in Vancouver also will see deep cuts, according to the plan released Friday by President Elson Floyd.
Nursing and medical education were not cut at all, and library funding was barely reduced.
"We've got to preserve the quality and excellence Washingtonians have expected at Washington State University," Floyd told a news conference. "The reality is we must balance our budget at the end of the day. This approach does precisely that."
The proposals will be debated during May, then final decisions will be made in June, Floyd said. The new fiscal year begins July 1.
The budget passed by the Legislature last week requires WSU to reduce its budget by more than $100 million. But money from federal economic stimulus spending, plus a 28 percent increase in tuition over the next two years, would reduce that amount to $54 million, or 10.38 percent of its current budget, WSU officials said.