As 2024 drew to a close, some institutions announced job and academic program cuts, structural deficits, and other changes, with one even declaring financial exigency last month.
Many of the colleges listed below cited the usual factors such as rising costs and declining enrollment. While many institutions facing budget issues have modest or minimal assets, Brown University is an outlier among colleges on this list with an endowment valued at $7.2 billion as of fiscal year 2024. (While Brown did not announce job cuts, it is making changes to deal with a budget deficit.)
Here’s a look at the cutbacks across the sector announced in December.
Columbia College Chicago
Reeling from a $17 million budget deficit, Columbia College Chicago plans to drop 11 academic programs and ax up to 25 faculty jobs, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Some programs will be consolidated while others will be eliminated altogether.
At the undergraduate level, the college is planning to cut environmental and sustainability studies, American Sign Language, cultural studies, and art history. Graduate programs on the chopping block are creative writing, user experience and interaction design, cinema and television producing, acting and contemporary performance making, fine arts, and photography.
“This is a logical and necessary step in our 135-year history of continued reinvention to provide a creative education grounded in real-world demands and opportunities,” Columbia College Chicago interim president Jerry Tarrer wrote in a December letter announcing the changes.
Portland State University
Last month, 15 non-tenure-track faculty members received layoff notices from Portland State University as officials wrangle an $18 million budget gap, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.
Of those 17 professors, 15 were from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and two were from the College of Urban and Public Affairs. They will remain on the job through June 15. Another 23 faculty members reportedly opted in to an early retirement incentive program.
“Today marks a difficult milestone in our important efforts to achieve the financial sustainability necessary to continue to serve our students now and into the future,” President Ann Cudd and Provost Shelly Chabon wrote in a letter to the community obtained by OPB. “These are our valued colleagues and friends and each notice has a profound impact on our community.”
Cuts at Portland State were not as deep as initially feared, considering nearly 100 non-tenure-track faculty members received a letter in October indicating they could soon lose their jobs.
William Jewell College
Citing “significant financial challenges brought about by increasing costs,” officials at the Missouri institution announced last month that it was declaring financial exigency.
“Following extensive analysis and thoughtful deliberation, the William Jewell College Board of Trustees has voted to declare financial exigency, an intentional step toward creating financial stability and securing the path forward for the College. In doing so, the Board is deploying an important tool that enables reallocation of resources, restructuring of academic programs and scholarships and significant reductions in force. We will transition out of the financial exigency period in less than one year after efficiencies are being achieved according to plan,” officials announced in a Dec. 5 letter to the community signed by the board chair and interim president.
A committee of faculty and board members will begin evaluating departments, programs and majors “in the context of marketplace demands and needs of today’s prospective students,” according to the letter. College officials also announced unspecified changes to athletics to develop a “more viable athletic aid strategy” and fundraising plan. The college is also looking to cut back on vendor contracts and leverage campus facilities in the summer to grow revenues.
University of Connecticut
Following a review of various low-enrollment programs, the University of Connecticut Board of Trustees voted last month to pare back some academic offerings, CT Insider reported.
UConn’s board voted to drop three academic programs and suspend a dozen more. Additional cuts may be on the way as another 18 academic programs at UConn remain under review.
The university did not specify whether job cuts would accompany programmatic changes.
University of New Orleans
After announcing plans to ax more than 70 jobs over the summer due to a then-$15 million deficit, more cuts are on the horizon at the University of New Orleans, The Louisiana Illuminator reported.
With a remaining budget shortfall of at least $10 million, the university plans to trim another $2.2 million in administrative salaries. The university’s plan calls for reducing the number of vice presidents, academic deans, directors and department chairs to achieve cost-savings goals.
University officials have also announced a spending freeze.
San Francisco State University
Big changes could be coming at San Francisco State University, which declared a “financial emergency” last month. President Lynn Mahoney wrote to faculty that every unit “will be making hard reductions” and program changes are likely, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Mahoney cited enrollment challenges and likely state funding cuts.
“Please note that this declaration does not change any of our ongoing budget processes or plans nor does it imply layoffs. Until we learn of the extent of the state budget reduction, we continue to work on our multi-year plan to dramatically reduce expenses in alignment with enrollment,” Mahoney wrote in a letter to the SFSU community early last month.
She noted that SFSU currently has a budget deficit of almost $14 million. Given anticipated cuts to state funding, Mahoney wrote that the university needs to reduce its budget by $25 million.
SFSU has already laid off an unspecified number of adjunct faculty members.
University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh
Financially challenged University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh is extending a voluntary retirement incentive program to 57 full-time faculty members in a cost-cutting effort, Fox 11 News reported.
UW Oshkosh saw significant struggles over the course of 2024, depleting its unrestricted reserves by midyear and deciding to close its Fox Cities campus due to declining enrollment.
Brown University
Even some of the nation’s wealthiest institutions are facing budget woes. Brown University officials announced a $46 million structural deficit last month, citing flat undergraduate tuition revenue growth, increased financial aid, inflation and rising salaries and benefits as factors.
Although Brown did not announce job cuts, it will review vacancies and limit hiring.
