Georgetown University’s philosophy department suspended Ph.D. admissions for Fall 2026, citing university budget constraints.
The department announced the decision in a Dec. 22 email to applicants, one week after the Dec. 15 application deadline. The announcement came after university officials announced Dec. 12 that Georgetown has reduced doctoral enrollment amid ongoing budget cuts and a decline in graduate tuition revenue.
In the email sent to applicants which The Hoya obtained, John Greco, the philosophy department’s director of graduate admissions, said the decision was directed by the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS), which houses the philosophy department.
“I write with unfortunate news and deep regret,” Greco wrote. “Due to recent budget constraints, the College of Arts & Sciences has directed the Philosophy Department to suspend graduate admissions to the PhD for the fall 2026 semester.”
“We expect to resume graduate admissions for the fall of 2027,” Greco added.
A university spokesperson said the decision was made in consultation with the philosophy department.
“Due to recent budget constraints across the University, the College of Arts & Sciences, in consultation with the leadership of the Department of Philosophy, has decided to suspend graduate admissions to the department’s doctoral program for the fall 2026 semester,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya.
As of Dec. 23, there are 32 doctoral students listed on the philosophy department’s website. The philosophy doctoral program includes 45 credits across six semesters, a series of exams and a dissertation.
Interim University President Robert M. Groves announced Dec. 9 that the university recorded a 23% decline in the number of students starting graduate applications and a 20% drop in international graduate student enrollment. Groves has cited federal cuts to higher education funding, changing immigration policies and ending graduate loan programs as reasons for the declines.
The university also instituted a hiring freeze for faculty and staff and paused merit pay increases for individuals with salaries above $50,000 for the first half of Fiscal Year 2026, which runs from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. Groves said the university currently projects a revenue reduction of $91 million to $112 million in Fiscal Year 2026 and is preparing for a “constrained budget” for Fiscal Year 2027.
In response to the cuts, Interim University Provost Soyica Colbert (COL ’01) said earlier in December that Georgetown has reduced its doctoral student enrollment.
“On the main campus, we also, in this academic year, decreased the size of our Ph.D. student cohort,” Colbert said during a Dec. 12 town hall for main campus faculty.
“These were all cost saving measures that we sacrificed to help the university in a very challenging moment,” Colbert added.
Universities across the United States have slashed Ph.D. enrollment as they grapple with budget constraints and a changing federal regulatory environment. The University of Chicago, one of Georgetown’s peer institutions, suspended Fall 2026 Ph.D. admissions for 19 programs, including classics, linguistics and public policy, in August and October.
While the university does not fund tuition and programming for all philosophy doctoral students, the department offers four or five “funded slots” per year to admitted students. These students serve as teaching assistants during their second and third years in the program and teach a class during their fourth year.
The spokesperson said the university remains committed to doctoral students and recognizes their impact on education.
“We greatly value our Ph.D. students,” the spokesperson wrote. “Doctoral studies are key to the formation of our faculty and by extension to the formation of all of our students – graduate and undergraduate.”
Greco said suspending doctoral admissions in the philosophy department is disappointing, but acknowledged the university administration’s difficult position.
“I sincerely apologize for the late timing of this decision, which I understand is extremely frustrating for many reasons, not least because of the time and effort that goes into building a graduate admissions application,” Greco wrote. “For different reasons, this is all deeply frustrating for the Admissions Committee and the Philosophy Department as well. That said, I do believe that Georgetown’s administration is acting with good will to negotiate difficult circumstances.”
This story was updated Dec. 23 to include additional information.
