Some universities are bracing for another round of spending cuts and layoffs.
Many colleges were already facing financial strain due to years of declining enrollment before this year brought added stress from uncertainties around federal funding and policy. Now, some colleges appear to be taking a more conservative approach to budgeting heading into 2026.
Last week, Yale, one of the wealthiest universities in the country, announced a new round of budget cuts, this time citing the new endowment tax. Provost Scott Strobel warned "layoffs may be necessary."
At Northeastern University in Boston, staff told GBH News the university recently trimmed jobs across the institution. One employee said the cuts came quickly, with little to no warning. Northeastern spokesperson Renata Nyul declined to comment on layoffs, but said the university is "always looking for ways to meet the challenges and opportunities of the moment."
"That is standard practice for high-performing organizations," Nyul said.
Robert Kelchen, who teaches higher education policy at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, said the defining word for 2025 in higher education has been "uncertainty" — much of it stemming from Washington.
"The Trump administration's actions and threatened actions and potential actions all affected colleges' bottom lines or have the potential to strongly affect bottom lines," Kelchen said.
Policy changes and concerns about student visas contributed to a 17% drop in first-year international enrollment this fall, according to the Institute of International Education. The impact varies widely, however. Highly selective schools remain mostly unaffected by this trend, while public and regional universities have seen the biggest losses. Many of those schools rely heavily on international students, who tend to pay full tuition.
Northeastern would not say whether its first-year international enrollment has declined, but said student demand "is off the charts."
"Northeastern has had record applications and enrollment numbers going back several years," Nyul wrote in an email.
Changes to international student enrollment can have a major impact on schools' bottom lines as more U.S. families question the value of a degree, and the pool of potential domestic students continues to decrease.
"Compared to 2023, 38 states are projected to see a decline in the number of [high school] graduates by 2041," according to a report from the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. "Only 10 states are projected to grow from the national peak of total number of high school graduates in 2025."
Kelchen said schools are trying to avoid worst-case outcomes in the short term while preparing for the uncertain future — and he expects more cuts.
"When even the wealthiest institutions in the world are making cuts, I expect other colleges to continue following suit," Kelchen said. "Some of that is to avoid potential worst case outcomes like closures or massive cuts in the short-term. And some of it's also to try to get back ahead of their financial situation."
"All the financial challenges coming from the Trump administration are real," he added, "but they're also a good cover for institutions that need to make other cuts."
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