If Southern Oregon University doesn’t make some serious changes by 2025, it is going to be facing a shortfall of about $13 million.

It’s a lot for a university with an annual budget of $65 million. It’s existential.

Not every higher education institution in Oregon faces an equally challenging future. But in the last decade, support from the state has dropped and higher education has had to rely more on tuition. The revenue picture at SOU, for instance, has shifted from about two-thirds revenue from the state and one-third from tuition to the opposite.

Tuition is now about $10,000 a year at SOU, without fees or room and board. That’s a bargain compared to the tuition at many schools. It’s still a sizable investment and perhaps sizable debt for students.

Rick Bailey, SOU’s president, spoke with The Bulletin’s editorial board on Thursday about the university’s plans.

The university is looking to pull four financial levers.

It’s looking at changing what it offers. It won’t be all things for all people. It’s looking at what it has to give up. It’s not clear yet what will make the cut and what will be eliminated.

The university lacks the support to help its staff go after grants. The plan is to up the capacity and draw in more money.

The university has already recently broken some records on philanthropy. It hopes to do more. Bob Reihm, the school’s wrestling coach who turned that program into a national force, broke the school’s record for a single donation with a $3 million bequest in his will. Then Lithia Motors broke that record with a donation of $12 million.

The university is also aiming to bring money into the school by repurposing some of its land for development. It’s going to develop a senior living facility on campus. Residents will be able to take advantage of all the benefits of living so close to a college campus. They will be able to enroll in any course for free, as long as space is available. The university hopes residents will be interested in volunteering to help with student orientation. There may even be students who want to take advantage of a unique housing opportunity by living with seniors. Rent might be cheaper in exchange for some responsibilities.

There’s much more going on at SOU than we have highlighted. The most interesting thing may be what it is doing to generate its own electricity. That could save the campus some $700,000 a year.

Will the changes be enough? The university’s cost curve is increasing at about 8.9% right now. And it wouldn’t be fair to students or perhaps even possible to throw that all on the backs of student tuition.

SOU has been known as a place for teachers to learn their trade and as a place for the arts. It’s not time to panic that SOU will be lost. It’s time to make changes.