Protests force disclosure of costs totaling $16,000 per student over 7 year rollout replacing 80 legacy systems
The total cost of a Workday implementation project at Washington University in St. Louis is set to hit almost $266 million, it was revealed after the project was the subject of protests from students.
In late October, students demonstrated outside the Faculty Senate demanding the University’s leadership reveal more details about its finances, including its spending on Workday, amid concerns about job losses at the institution.
In an email to Student Life, the institution’s independent student newspaper, David Gray, executive vice chancellor for finance and chief financial officer (CFO), said the total cost of the project was set to reach upwards of $265 million over at least seven years, roughly $16,000 per student.
The student newspaper said the Workday project was broken down into $81 million for financial and human resources services (HCM), $98.9 million for the student application called Sunrise, and $56.5 million for planning, data integration, and financial aid. Meanwhile $23.8 million in the 2026 financial year is for support and $5.7 million for annual licensing.