Another round of budget cuts is hitting colleges, targeting staff, academic programs and more.
Like the wave of announcements made over the early summer, college leaders are responding to declining enrollment, increasing operational expenses and ongoing federal policy changes.
The University of Chicago is taking a host of steps to cut its annual budget by $100 million. President Paul Alivisatos announced plans to lay off 400 staff members and administrators, as well as limit faculty hires primarily to assistant professors.
Plans for a new engineering and science building have also been “substantially scaled down,” and any new capital project will require philanthropic support, according to a university statement.
Over the next three years, East Carolina University will try to reduce its total budget by 2%, or about $25 million. While strengthening its online learning presence, the university is beginning to identify its least popular academic programs and consolidate two libraries.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison has also targeted its libraries in an effort to reduce department budgets by 5%. The math and physics library closed in late August, and the library of social work will close at the end of the academic year. Two more buildings will cut materials and operating hours.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln aims to save up to $27.5 million, and it plans to reach about a third of its goal by targeting the university’s academics. Chancellor Rodney Bennett has proposed:
- Eliminating six academic programs
- Consolidating four departments into two interdisciplinary schools
- Reduce the budgets of the engineering and liberal arts colleges
The rest of the savings will derive from staff and operational reductions across administrative units, and buyouts for long-term tenured faculty.
More budget cuts loom from federal policy changes
Some institutions may soon have to make difficult budget-cutting decisions as the Trump administration continues to alter federal funding.
Following a $186 billion reduction in federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, related programming at the University of Arizona fell by $6 million. The university has since let go of 43 staff members, KGUN 9 reports.
Similarly, Trump’s recent move to erase $350 million in grants for Minority Serving Institutions will affect over 615 Hispanic Serving Institutions, 37 Tribal Colleges and Universities and 104 Predominantly Black Institutions.
“Cutting this funding strips away critical investments in under-resourced and first-generation students and will destabilize colleges in 29 states,” David Mendez, interim CEO of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, said in a statement.
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