The End of Business as Usual for Utah’s Universities?

Is the Utah Legislature Trying to Disrupt Higher Education?

It sure seems that way.

There are always bills dealing with Utah’s public colleges, but this year felt different. Instead of small adjustments, lawmakers signaled a broader shift—one aimed at making higher education more accountable, efficient, and responsive to real-world needs.

House Speaker Mike Schultz said before the session, “We have an opportunity to turn the tide and have higher ed refocus on what’s most important.”

The push for reform started in November, when an audit on higher education efficiency was presented to the Education Interim Committee. While legislative auditors don’t set policy, their findings exposed serious issues within the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE).

Their conclusion? Universities are making major financial decisions without truly understanding costs or market demand. The audit put it bluntly: “Institutions within the Utah System of Higher Education do not calculate program-level costs or fully understand market demand when making institutional decisions.”

When the Utah legislative session began, it was clear lawmakers were ready to make changes.

Three Key Bills That Signal a Shift

1. Eliminating Accreditation Barriers

Representative Stephanie Gricius introduced a bill to remove accreditation requirements for many professional licenses in the state. Libertas worked closely with Rep. Gricius on this bill and strongly supported it.

Why does this matter? Accreditation is often an unnecessary barrier that forces people to attend expensive, bureaucratic institutions just to obtain credentials. By removing this requirement, Utah is opening the door for alternative education providers, apprenticeships, and more accessible career pathways—without forcing students into costly degree programs.

2. Holding Universities Accountable for Wasteful Programs

Representative Karen Peterson introduced a bill that requires universities to measure the efficiency of their programs. If a program is found to be inefficient or failing to serve students effectively, universities will have to reform or eliminate it.

This is a huge step toward accountability. For too long, universities have been adding programs without considering whether they actually benefit students. Now, taxpayers and students alike will have a clearer understanding of which degrees provide real value—and which ones are simply expensive dead ends.

3. Reforming General Education at Utah State

Senator John Johnson introduced legislation to create a new general education pathway at Utah State University. This path will focus on classical liberal arts education, modeled after the rigorous, inquiry-based approach found in classical schools.

This move acknowledges a growing concern: general education requirements are often bloated, ideologically driven, and disconnected from the skills students actually need. By offering an alternative, students will have a choice—a structured, intellectually rich education instead of a haphazard collection of introductory courses.

The Big Picture: Higher Ed is Changing

Individually, these bills might seem like minor tweaks. But taken together, they represent a larger shift—one that signals Utah lawmakers are no longer content with the status quo in higher education.

• They want universities to be financially responsible.
• They want students to have real career pathways—not just expensive degrees.
• They want alternative education models to thrive.

And I, for one, am here for it.

The days of blindly accepting higher education as the only path to success are coming to an end. Utah is leading the way in redefining what higher education should look like in the 21st century—and this is just the beginning.