Education
Northwestern University Eliminating 425 Staff Positions Amid Continued Federal Funding Freeze
(Courtesy of Northwestern University)
Northwestern University announced Tuesday it has eliminated hundreds of positions as it continues to deal with a federal funding freeze that officials said has made the last few months “among the most difficult in our institution’s 174-year history.”
The Evanston-based university said it is cutting approximately 5% of its staff budget through the elimination of 425 positions across schools and units, though officials said about half of those are currently vacant.
Northwestern said it has already taken several measures to protect its long-term financial stability, including changing employee benefits, implementing a hiring freeze, reducing non-personnel expenses by 10% and forgoing annual compensation increases.
“Laying off staff is a drastic step that causes pain and anxiety both for the individuals whose lives are affected, but also for our entire community, and we do not take it lightly,” Northwestern President Michael Schill, Provost Kathleen Hagerty and Vice President Amanda Distel wrote in an open letter Tuesday. “Schools and units are carrying out this work with care and compassion, and they will communicate to their communities once all impacted staff members in their units have been notified, which should occur within the next 48 hours.”
The funding freeze is part of a broader push of using taxpayer dollars to pressure major academic institutions to comply with President Donald Trump’s political agenda and to influence campus policy.
The Republican administration previously cut off money to Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania and others, creating uncertainty for universities at a time of reduced grants for research institutions.
In April, Northwestern said it had received stop-work orders on approximately 100 federal grants. Yet university leaders said their financial issues go beyond that funding freeze, stating that higher education in general “faces tremendous and mounting headwinds.”
Northwestern said it must also confront rising healthcare expenses, litigation, labor contracts, employee benefits, compliance requirements and a “suite of federal changes.” Even when federal research funding is restored, they claimed it wouldn’t be enough to reverse the current actions.
“While we cannot control outside forces, we will continue to work hard to influence them in our favor,” university leaders said, “and we vow to be transparent and responsive as we work together to ensure Northwestern serves its mission to be one of the world’s great institutions of teaching and research for generations to come.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
