Jul. 25—Wittenberg University is considering millions of dollars in cuts to faculty and staff after facing many of the same financial problems that universities across the country are facing, according to emails sent to alumni and students.

Universities nationwide are facing a smaller potential group of students, as fewer people graduate from high school and more young adults are choosing to go directly into the workforce than to college, and rapid inflation, which has hurt private businesses as well. The liberal arts university located in Springfield and founded in 1845 is no exception.

Tax documents for the 2022-2023 school year show the university spent about $17 million more than it brought in, and had a deficit in tax years 2020 and 2022. In 2021, the university had a surplus of about $3.5 million.

The university said in an email to its alumni obtained by the Springfield News-Sun and Dayton Daily News the administration is working on a plan to make the university more financially stable.

According to the email, such a plan would cut projected deficits, eliminating a deficit entirely by the third year; cut staff positions at a minimum of $3 million in the current 2025 fiscal year and beyond, and eliminate "faculty lines" at $4 million in the 2026 fiscal year and beyond, "while retaining those academy programs necessary for the university to maintain and grow its current enrollment." The university's entire budget in tax year 2023 was about $96 million.

The university's board will consider the new plan at its next meeting on Aug. 15.

"We believe these changes and others will make Wittenberg into a more affordable, outcomes-oriented institution while providing us with a strong financial foundation for the decades ahead — all while preserving much of what has made us exceptional in the past," the university said in a statement.

The message to current students did not include some of the specifics that were in the message to alumni. Both messages were signed by Michael Frandsen, Wittenberg's president, and by William D. Edwards, chairman of the board of directors.

In the board's mid-July meeting, members directed Frandsen "to complete the Budgetary Hardship process approved earlier this year."

That means the president will prepare a plan "that will fully eliminate forecasted losses by the 2027 fiscal year and reduce near-term losses through the expedited implementation of temporary and/or permanent costs savings," the statement said.

According to the university, Wittenberg is considering new subject areas and academic programs, using more online and hybrid models of learning, more career pathways, and more access to academic and career expertise.