Budget Cuts Raise Concerns Over Counseling Services at Regis University: Is Regis Doing Enough to Protect the Mental Health of Students?
Charlize Woods, Staff Writer
On Wednesday, September 17th, Provost Jake Bucher said Regis University has expanded the counseling services for students in the 2025-2026 school year. Despite cuts in funding, the real issue lies in student awareness about the resources available. The Counseling Center is a place where the concerns of students can be addressed. Academic stress, anxiety, depression, relationship problems, etc., are all challenges that many see as critical to maintaining well-being on campus.
Regis University’s financial records show that funding for student services (a category that includes health and counseling support) has been shrinking. According to the records, in the 2024 fiscal year, the university spent $25.8 million on student services. In 2025, that amount decreased to $23.6 million. This shows an 8.5% drop. The university’s 2026 financial plan shows expenses tightening again, but “Academic and Student Affairs” looks to be receiving the largest share of the budget at 43%. These reports did not specifically name the Counseling Center in the budget plan, and attempts to reach Counseling Center staff via email went unanswered.
Regis University's Provost, Jake Bucher clarified that the budget planning is impacting the Counseling Center through the removal of one position. Two other individuals chose to leave the Counseling Center on their own terms, meaning 3 clinicians have been lost since the Spring 2025 semester. Only one position has been replaced.
In response to these changes, Bucher says “This has not impacted our ability to operate, in fact – with some other changes we have actually improved operations at the Counseling Center. We synergized counseling support by joining with the Interprofessional Health Campus in Thornton and creating Regis Behavioral Health – which means we actually have gained more clinicians. We now have 40 practicum students, 10 interns and 2 licensed clinicians seeing students – that’s a significant increase in support available to students, despite the aforementioned loss.
When asked about other steps Regis University is taking to protect and support the mental health of students, Butcher acknowledged that Our Student Life, Campus Ministry, Community for Belonging (CoBe), and Counseling Center continue to offer their own programming as well as collaborating on programming. Students have access to each of these areas, as well as to other resources such as their CDA, Advisor, Faculty members, and the Provost. “We have also intentionally found counselors with specific backgrounds who are offering groups like the Queer Support Group in CoBe and an Athletics specific group for our student athletes. We are open to having other groups on campus and are working towards filling other requests,” says Bucher.
It’s clear that Regis is working to provide support for student mental health. However, the real challenge seems to lie in awareness. Too many students are unaware that certain resources exist or how to access them when they need help the most. This raises questions directly for the student body: How can Regis do better in making sure every student knows what support is available? Do you, as students, feel like the university is doing enough to meet your mental health needs?