Georgetown University’s Office of the Provost announced measures to preserve research and graduate student enrollment at a university town hall Dec. 12.
To combat ongoing federal budget cuts, which have affected research funding and graduate loans, the university announced accommodations including decreasing the doctoral student cohort, which could affect Georgetown’s research 1 (R1) status, and increasing international programs to attract foreign graduate students. In Fall 2025, Georgetown enrolled 1,788 graduate students on F-1 and J-1 international student visas.
Interim University Provost Soyica Diggs Colbert (COL ’01) said enrolling less doctoral students may affect the University’s R1 status, which requires at least 70 research doctorate students graduating and at least $50 million spent on research and development each year.
“On the main campus, we also, in this academic year, decreased the size of our Ph.D. student cohort,” Colbert said at the meeting. “It’s important to note that our Research 1 status is tied to one characteristic of being a Research 1 university. Not the only, but one characteristic is graduating at least 70 Ph.D.s per year. So in decreasing the size of our cohort, it is a downstream risk for the university that we have to think about. But these were all cost-saving measures that we sacrificed.”
In 2024, Georgetown awarded 206 doctoral degrees for research and scholarship and 840 doctoral degrees for professional practice.
Colbert said Georgetown is still dedicated to improving the university’s research infrastructure despite government pressure.
“We have also been working hard prior to this current administration to improve our research infrastructure,” Colbert said. “Some of the external pressures are reminding us that that work is even more urgent and important to the university as a Research 1 institution, an institution that again, is prided on delivering the best quality education to our students and delivering world class research.”
The Trump administration has sought to reduce federal funding for agencies administering research grants, with proposed cuts of around $18 billion, nearly 40% of Fiscal Year 2025’s budget. In March 2025, Georgetown announced plans to mitigate these federal budget cuts, including diversifying funding sources.
Colbert said Georgetown will create a new position and office to oversee research as part of the effort to preserve the university’s research status.
“We are currently searching for our first chief research officer, but that position is being funded through a reorganization of existing positions at the university,” Colbert said. “A committee has been formed, they have been charged, a search firm has been engaged. And we are on the path to searching for our first chief research officer. President-elect Eduardo Peñalver will participate in the selection of the chief research officer.”
“We are also creating the Office of Research, which will support the chief research officer,” Colbert added. “And again, this is not creating a bunch of new positions, but rather reorganizing existing work to be more efficient and to speak to their research.”
Colbert said faculty have been encouraged to seek research funding outside of the federal government, following recent funding restrictions.
“In addition, our faculty have participated in a set of learning opportunities called Operation Mindshift that is meant to help faculty understand what are the grant opportunities outside of the federal government,” Colbert said. “Then prepare them to shift their proposals from applying for funding from the federal government to that of foundations and other entities.”
Colbert said the university must reevaluate graduate programs with high international student enrollment, citing less interest for foreign students to study in Washington, D.C., amid visa restrictions.
“Some of the ways that we are making plans are in response to the variability of students either being able to come to D.C. and/or the desirability of coming to D.C. are looking at the programs most affected by, or who have historically drawn the most from, international student populations, and thinking about how you might adjust the programs to attract a broader audience,” Colbert said.
Colbert said that as international enrollment declines, focus will shift to attracting domestic students for graduate programs on the Hilltop campus.
“We are extending the discounts for federal workers and newly graduated undergraduates, which proved to be a way of bolstering our domestic student population last year, and we hope that we will do that again this year,” Colbert said. “It’s not about lessening the dependence on foreign students, but it is about responding to the context of why foreign students are not able to enroll.”
The university will also create more international graduate programs for students who are unable to live in D.C., including a master’s program in diplomacy and international affairs at the new SFS campus in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Colbert said it is important for the university to stand together as a community in challenging times, thanking faculty and employees for their support this year.
“This year, we faced extraordinary and unprecedented challenges, but we face them together as a community,” Colbert said. “Because of your efforts, Georgetown has continued to remain a strong institution of academic excellence where research can unfold and we can again contribute to not only knowledge production, but to knowledge production for the good of our whole of our society.”
