As we look ahead to the upcoming academic year at a time of intense nationwide scrutiny of higher education, it’s worth noting the University of Wyoming’s most important truth: UW is Wyoming’s university.
That’s not just a tagline or a matter of geography. It’s a constitutional commitment, written into the very foundation of our state before Wyoming achieved statehood in 1890. Our charge is to provide a college education “as nearly free as possible” to the people of our state -- and to do so in a way that reflects Wyoming’s values, supports its industries, serves its communities and prepares its young people to lead.
This is the university’s founding purpose. Over the next six months, we are planning a series of monthly op-eds highlighting the incredible people who are carrying that mission forward today. This is a team of high performers -- dedicated educators, scientists, mentors and professionals -- who believe in Wyoming, who love this university and who are working every day to ensure that UW remains a place of excellence, access and relevance.
I want to begin with where we will end: The University of Wyoming is not like most other universities. And that’s a good thing.
At a time when public confidence in higher education has declined nationally, UW stands as a clear exception to the trend. In Wyoming, college remains affordable. Thanks to legislative support and careful stewardship, in-state tuition at UW is among the lowest in the country for four-year public institutions. And more than half of our students graduate with zero student loan debt -- a striking contrast to the national average, where over 60 percent of graduates leave college with financial burdens that can last for decades.
We are proud to welcome students this fall into newly opened residence halls -- modern, welcoming facilities designed to support learning and community. We anticipate one of the largest groups of Wyoming students in our freshman class ever, and our focus now turns to ensuring their experience at UW is as remarkable as the buildings they’ll live and learn in.
What sets UW apart is not only affordability, but also alignment. Our programs, research and partnerships are tied directly to the future of this state. We support Wyoming’s legacy industries -- minerals, agriculture and tourism -- while also helping to chart new paths in applications of computing, entrepreneurship, health care and advanced manufacturing -- as they apply to Wyoming. Our faculty and staff work hand-in-hand with communities across the state, listening carefully and responding to real-world challenges with practical solutions.
And we prepare students not just for jobs, but also for meaningful lives. This includes equipping them with the tools today’s economy demands: digital skills, communication, hands-on learning experiences and resilience. Our student success efforts aim to ensure that our graduates enter the workforce prepared and confident. This is what some of our graduates call that “unfair advantage” we give our students, and we are proud of it!
But our mission is broader than just workforce readiness. College is also about personal growth -- about learning to think critically, live ethically and engage productively in a democratic society. That’s why we have strived to make UW a national leader in free expression, institutional neutrality and the open exchange of ideas. We are a place where students are exposed to diverse perspectives but not told what to think.
Strong support from state legislators, governors and other elected officials has been key to UW becoming what it is today: a land-grant and flagship university that has reached the highest level of American research universities -- research that helps advance our state. We recently became one of just the top 4.8 percent of institutions nationwide designated as an R1 university by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation. This support also has allowed UW to continue meeting its constitutional mandate. State investments have kept higher education within reach for generations of Wyomingites, and they have enabled us to maintain our impact in every corner of the state.
As we look ahead, that partnership remains vital. While state funding has provided incredible facilities such as the new residence halls, our operational funding from the state has been relatively flat over the past decade. We have made a number of reductions and changes to be more efficient, but further reductions would necessitate elimination of programs that serve Wyoming people. And in the competitive world of higher education, we need to make sure our faculty and staff salaries allow us to recruit and retain the best and brightest educators and researchers.
We are not perfect. We continue to evolve, to listen and to improve. But we do so always with Wyoming in mind -- with a clear sense of the past and an ambitious vision for the future.
Wyoming’s challenges are unique, but so is our opportunity. With the right focus and support, UW can continue to be a cornerstone of economic development, civic vitality and individual opportunity for decades to come, and to help us navigate the winds of change that will come our way.
We look forward to sharing more in the months ahead -- and to showing you what Wyoming’s university, powered by Wyoming people, is doing and is preparing to do in the future.
Ed Seidel is the 28th president of the University of Wyoming.
