Georgetown University will continue the hiring freeze and budget constraints implemented last April in response to federal cuts to higher education, Interim University President Robert M. Groves announced at two town halls for faculty and staff Dec. 9.

Groves reaffirmed those initial budget cuts — which aimed to cut $95 million from the university’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget, which runs from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, until a December reassessment — during the town hall, citing turbulent immigration policy, decreasing research funding and graduate loan changes that have reduced international student enrollment and tuition revenue. For the full fiscal year, the university estimates a net loss ranging from $15 million to $36 million with the existing budget plan, and a range of a $33 million loss to a $9 million surplus with additional savings measures.

Groves said the university currently projects a revenue reduction of $91 million to $112 million through Fiscal Year 2026, a narrower range than April’s estimate of $57 million to $263 million.

“We’re now estimating the harms to us have a range of 91 to 112 — it’s a pretty big range, but that’s what we’re stuck with, given the uncertainty,” Groves said at the town hall. “But it’s not that extreme hit that we were afraid of on the bad side, and I’m really pleased that we took those proactive actions, despite the pain that we’ve had over the past few months.”

The town halls followed October and November emails to faculty in which Groves announced the university is projected to lose $35 million in research funding and $17 million in international graduate student tuition. 

The April budget constraints froze all hiring and paused merit pay increases for faculty and staff making more than $50,000 annually for the first half of the fiscal year. For executives and administrators earning more than $200,000 annually, the pause lasts through the entire fiscal year. 

However, Groves said the university experienced fewer personnel departures than initially expected, making the budget constraints less effective as the university saved only $76 million, rather than the projected $95 million.

“People are holding on to their Georgetown jobs at a much higher rate than we ever imagined,” Groves said. “There are more people who we thought might turn over and move to something else who are still here — that affected our salary savings.”

“That’s unfortunate, because if you do the subtraction here, the bottom line for the university is a deficit that lies between $15 and $36 million, if we kept going at the rate we’re going, making no changes” Groves added.

Georgetown, along with other higher education institutions, has faced increasing federal pressure, including cut research funding, restrictions on international students’ visas, and investigations of civil rights and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) issues. Groves said he expects the administration’s impacts to be long-term.

After President Donald Trump began his second term Jan. 20, Georgetown administrators reviewed a series of federal policies and executive orders targeting universities, according to Groves. The university continues to face uncertainty in multiple issue areas, including the federal government’s investigations into antisemitism and foreign funding, research funding cuts, limits on loans for graduate students, immigration policy and actions targeting DEI initiatives.

Groves said the Trump administration’s immigration policy changes have threatened the university’s international enrollment, including by restricting admitted students from countries that are banned from entering the United States.

“Part of the threats came from the instability and the chaos of the visa decisions that were being made late spring and summer,” Groves said. “About 16% of our graduate students are international students. They were most heavily affected by this visa chaos. It’s a little better now in terms of lack of instability, but there are still real problems.”

Groves also said the university is concerned about how changes to visa rules and increased immigration enforcement across the United States could impact international applications in the long term.

“We share a deep worry that the visa confusions, the treatment of noncitizens in the U.S., the larger geopolitical changes, might permanently, or at least quasi-permanently, reduce the attraction of U.S. higher education among non-U.S. students,” Groves said. “That’s a fear — we’re watching this. I can tell you — almost daily, I’m watching the enrollment numbers multiple times a week, and we’re trying to discern whether we’re living through a shock that will go away or a permanent change.”

The university is also working to forecast its financial environment for Fiscal Year 2027, which will begin on July 1, 2026, balancing declines in graduate applications and research funding with strong revenue from law and medical student tuition and increasing undergraduate Capitol Campus enrollment. The university is currently recording a 23% decline in the number of students starting graduate applications.

According to Groves, the university estimates a loss of $50 million to $100 million without further cost-cutting efforts.

Groves said the uncertainty surrounding federal policy and the U.S. economy makes long-term predictions difficult or impossible.

“At this point, you know everything I know about our near-term financial status, and you know that I have no idea what we’re going to look like three years from now, nor does anyone,” Groves said.

According to Groves’ presentation, the university is preparing a “constrained budget” for Fiscal Year 2027 and will seek input from community members to support systemic cost-saving measures. In January, the university will roll out an initiative that allows faculty and staff to submit suggestions directly to the Office of the President.

Jane Komori, a School of Foreign Service (SFS) professor who attended the town hall, said Groves’ message lacked transparency, particularly regarding the future of the hiring freeze and merit pay.

“It’s not entirely surprising, given that all the updates we’ve had have not been all that transparent,” Komori told The Hoya. “I don’t think anyone’s been that optimistic about ending the staff hiring freeze or other pressing issues, but it’s certainly disappointing.”

“Every office that students interface with is seriously being squeezed by short staffing,” Komori added. “Students should know that this isn’t just an issue for those of us who work for the university, in terms of our working conditions. It’s an issue in terms of the quality of your education and your experience here on campus.”

Groves said merit pay increases could be restored for faculty and staff making up to $75,000 per year for the second half of Fiscal Year 2026, though he does not know when raises will increase for all faculty and staff because of the uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration’s policies.

“It’s the entire ecosystem of higher education,” Groves said. “I can tell you, it troubles me deeply that we are passing up traditional salary increases for all of us. We are collectively suffering from a set of very powerful forces that are out of our control.”

Addressing federal investigations into DEI efforts, Groves said the university remains committed to its Jesuit values.

“In conjunction with our efforts to build and nurture a diverse community, we believe that we have very carefully followed the law, but the investigations continue,” Groves said. “We remain committed to our mission of bringing together people with diversity of thought, viewpoint diversity, and all the other attributes that are key to support dialogue across differences. We’re not going to stop doing that.”

Groves said the university remains committed to its mission regardless of the federal policy environment.

“We have a good and honorable mission: serious and sustained dialogue across people — among people — of different faiths and cultures and ideas promotes intellectual, ethical and spiritual understanding,” Groves said. “That’s what we do at Georgetown. We’ll keep doing it, as long as we work together to do that. And so I ask each of you to hold on to that mission in the dark times that we sometimes have.”