Georgetown University will take steps to limit expenses and increase revenue, including a temporary hiring freeze for faculty and staff and pause on merit salary increases, as the federal government makes significant cuts to higher education.
The cuts, which interim university President Robert M. Groves announced in an email to faculty April 29, will take place through Dec. 31, after which the university will reassess its budget. Groves said the university is also seeking additional budgetary reductions in response to President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting universities.
The university will also seek to increase graduate and non-degree certificate enrollment, reallocate restricted gift funds to support ongoing university activities and seek additional philanthropic support, according to the email. The university previously announced a 10% reduction on graduate program tuition for current students, recent graduates and displaced federal workers.
Groves said shifts in federal policy and reductions in federal funding have undermined the university’s financial stability.
“Federal actions that have harmed our operations so far include reductions in research funding and the elimination of graduate fellowship programs,” Groves wrote in the email. “Other potential actions could affect student loans and increase the taxes on university endowments.”
According to Groves, federal research funding accounted for $195 million of the university’s $1.8 billion budget for the 2024 fiscal year. The university also received $267 million in federal funds to support student financial aid, including through direct loans, Pell Grants and federal work-study offers.
Groves added that the university is concerned about how higher costs could impact international student enrollment.
“As the federal actions taken to date are impacting the national and global economy, we are also monitoring potential indirect effects — including the possibility of declining enrollment of international students and losses of philanthropic support,” Groves wrote. “Any or all of these factors could threaten our mission through significant financial losses.”
The university will continue to honor any formal employment offers but will cease to fill vacancies not considered “mission-critical” positions — such as student services, health and safety or strategic needs — unless directly cleared with senior administrators, according to a document attached to Groves’ email. The changes will not affect timelines for tenure promotions.
The university will also direct administrators to reduce non-essential spending, including the budget for travel, catering and events, and delaying non-essential capital projects, according to the document.
Groves said the federal government’s actions are unprecedented and threaten higher education.
“Since the 1940s, Georgetown’s ability to pursue its fundamental mission has relied on a partnership with the federal government to fund and support education and research to advance the common good of our society,” Groves wrote. “The federal government is reevaluating this long-standing practice, scaling back research and education funding, and signaling a heightened level of scrutiny of higher education.”
Groves said the university aims to implement these spending reductions early in an effort to avoid furloughs and layoffs, similar to the steps the university took during the COVID-19 pandemic to protect university finances.
“Our guiding principle is to be able to continue our mission-critical work – education, research, and service to the common good,” Groves wrote. “We want to be proactive now to avoid a series of reactive budget adjustments month after month, which would be even more disruptive of the work we do together. We also want to avoid large-scale layoffs and furloughs as a way of coping with external financial threats.”
This article has been updated to reflect recent developments and clarify the measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.