USC has laid off more than 900 employees since July.
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Colleges announced more than 850 job cuts last month amid a tumultuous year for the sector.
The layoffs hit large, wealthy, research institutions, such as the University of Southern California and Harvard University, which have multi-billion dollar endowments but have been battered by federal research funding losses, as well as small colleges struggling with enrollment declines.
Here’s a look at layoffs and program cuts announced in October.
University of Southern California
Grappling with a budget deficit of more than $230 million, USC announced a wave of layoffs last month that will see 259 employees lose their jobs, The Orange County Register reported.
Since July, USC has laid off more than 900 employees, including those in its health system, as part of cost-cutting efforts. While the university has been squeezed by declining international enrollment and lost federal research funding, budget issues preceded the financial challenges wrought by the Trump administration, which have affected multiple institutions this year.
USC Interim President Beong-Soo Kim wrote in a Monday message that no more layoffs are on the horizon, noting that USC has “significantly reduced our operating expenses” and is “on track to eliminate our long-term deficit by the end of this fiscal year.”
Still, he said USC will need to continue to carefully navigate its financial situation, particularly given the uncertainty across the sector and potential disruptions from the federal government.
“Notwithstanding this encouraging news, we cannot afford the luxury of complacency,” he wrote.
Michigan State University
Squeezed by rising operating costs and federal research funding disruptions, the public university eliminated 99 positions as of Oct. 14, President Kevin Guskiewicz announced.
Another 83 positions have been “lost due to federal funding cuts” this year, he added.
Guskiewicz noted in a message to campus that the Trump administration terminated federal funding for 74 MSU projects, and another 86 “have been impacted by actions such as stop work orders, a pause on future funding decisions and conditional terminations.”
“Through these reductions, we believe the ongoing savings will achieve our 6 percent first-year savings goal, or $50 million in annual impact. We continue to update our forecasts as information becomes available, but today we expect the overall general fund budget to be largely on target,” Guskiewicz wrote to the Michigan State community last month.
Carnegie Mellon University
Hit by a loss in federal research funds, the private university in Pennsylvania laid off 75 staff members at its Software Engineering Institute last month, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
Those cuts reportedly make up 10 percent of the institute’s total workforce.
“This decision reflects the realities of SEI’s unique financial structure as a federally funded research and development center as well as the shifting federal funding priorities that are shaping the research landscape,” Carnegie Mellon Vice President for research Theresa Mayer wrote in an email to campus, which called the cuts a “last resort” and “unavoidable.”
CMU also laid off 18 employees in early August.
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University of Northern Colorado
Officials at the public university in Greeley announced last month that roughly 50 employees will be laid off due to financial challenges, including declining state funding and slumping enrollment, KUSA reported.
The university is looking to shed 80 to 100 jobs, between layoffs and eliminating vacancies.
“To address both our immediate issues and to protect the long-term financial stability of UNC, campus leaders are currently working to identify and weigh reductions and changes that will bring our expenditures into alignment,” Northern Colorado President Andy Feinstein said in a budget update last month. “The solution will not be found through a single change, but rather through thoughtful consideration of reductions to personnel and non-personnel expenditures.”
University of Louisiana Lafayette
Facing a $25 million deficit, ULL plans to cut 70 jobs, Louisiana Illuminator reported.
The reductions will be achieved through a mix “of position eliminations, retirements, resignations and reassignments,” Interim President Jaimie Hebert wrote in an email last month.
So far, Herbert said the university had identified $20.5 million in cost savings.
“Our work is not finished, however. We must now address the remaining $5 million of the structural deficit and begin tackling the University’s recurring debt of approximately $25 million,” Hebert wrote in an email to the campus community. “To do so, we have established a target of $15 million in additional reductions over the coming months – enough to erase the remaining deficit and begin resolving the first $10 million of our recurring debt. This step is essential to achieving financial stability and positioning UL Lafayette for long-term health and growth.”
UL Lafayette also eliminated six jobs in September to help ease its deficit.
Eastern Illinois University
Federal funding losses and decreases in international enrollment prompted layoffs at the public university in Charleston, which is cutting 44 jobs and closing 19 others, local TV station WCIA reported.
Eastern Illinois plans to cut 23 instructors on annual contracts and 17 staff jobs, as well as not renew contracts for four academic support roles. Another 19 vacancies at EIU will not be restaffed.
University officials said cuts were “a necessary step to safeguard EIU’s future.”
Xavier University of Louisiana
The nation’s only historically Black Catholic university laid off 46 full-time employees last month—roughly 6 percent of its workforce—due to mounting financial pressures, nola.com reported.
Officials cast the cuts as part of a restructuring effort and said no more layoffs were planned.
“As with many universities, Xavier is navigating the significant challenges in the changing higher education landscape,” officials said in a statement. “In an effort to ensure the institution’s long-term financial health, continued support of student success, and ongoing commitment to our mission, the university has made the difficult but necessary decision to adjust staffing levels.”
Harvard University
Despite a booming endowment, Harvard is once again laying off employees. After an unspecified number of job cuts this summer, Harvard laid off roughly 40 employees in the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences last month, The Boston Globe reported.
University officials cited cuts to federal research funding and an anticipated increase in the tax Harvard will pay on its endowment, which grew from $52 billion to nearly $57 billion this year.
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Siena University
More than three dozen administrators and multiple faculty members are set to exit the private Catholic university in New York following a round of recent buyouts, the Times-Union reported.
The newspaper noted that enrollment at Siena fell by more than 9 percent this year, and university officials have cast the buyouts as a restructuring effort to “right-size” the institution.
Siena University initially proposed the buyouts over the summer. Now 41 administrators who reportedly took the university up on the offer left at the end of last month. An additional 15 faculty members are also set to depart but will teach through the spring semester.
Sienna also chose not to reappoint 67 adjunct professors.
Clarke University
Amid financial pressures, the private Catholic university in Dubuque, Iowa, is cutting 13 academic programs and up to 37 jobs at the end of the academic year, local TV station KCRG reported.
Officials announced the cuts last month in response to declining enrollment and rising costs. A frequently asked questions page on Clarke’s website also noted “a significant budget deficit.”
The majority of program cuts are at the undergraduate level and include subjects such as English, philosophy, and religious studies, all of which university officials have said are underenrolled. Clarke expects to shed “23 faculty positions and 12–14 staff positions [that] may be eliminated through attrition, consolidation, or program closures,” according to a university statement.
Program cuts were announced shortly after the departure of President Fletcher Lamkin, who stepped down with little explanation last month after less than a year-and-a-half on the job.
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Ongoing cost-cutting measures at the Wisconsin flagship will see 31 employees laid off and another 156 positions left vacant, according to internal records obtained by The Cap Times.
Officials announced cost-cutting moves earlier this year but said layoffs would be “a last resort.”
UW-Madison, like many other research universities, has had federal grants terminated and received stop work orders on some projects. The university has also experienced a small dip in international students, which officials attributed to delays in visa processing and appointments.
University of Idaho
State budget cuts have prompted Idaho’s public universities to trim some positions, including 28 staff and faculty jobs at the public research university in Moscow, Idaho Education News reported.
The University of Idaho is making the cuts to shave $3.1 million in personnel costs.
Multiple other institutions will also be affected by $13.3 million in state budget cuts, including Boise State University, Idaho State University, Lewis-Clark State College, College of Western Idaho, College of Southern Idaho, North Idaho College and College of Eastern Idaho. Cuts range from as high as $4 million at Boise State to $250,000 at Eastern Idaho.
The University of Idaho has announced the deepest layoffs among state institutions so far. Boise State officials noted cuts will be necessary but haven’t yet released specifics. Several others also plan to make cuts but in most cases, layoffs will affect only a small number of employees.
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Nebraska Wesleyan University
Cost-cutting efforts at the private university in Lincoln prompted the layoff of 14 staff members and another three positions were reduced from full-time to part-time status, the Lincoln Journal-Star reported.
Faculty members were spared from cuts, though some academic programs could be axed in the future following a program review. NWU President Darrin Good called the review a “proactive, faculty-led effort designed to ensure that our academic offerings align with our fiscal reality while remaining strong, relevant, and responsive to student needs and future career opportunities.”
Rhode Island College
Buyouts are on the table at the public college in Providence, which is making voluntary retirement incentives available to as many as 101 employees in an effort to cut costs, The Boston Globe reported.
The buyout offer comes as colleges are preparing budget proposals for the next fiscal year. Buyouts could save the college as much as $3 million in fiscal year 2027.
PennWest University
Citing enrollment and financial issues, the public university plans to furlough more than a dozen employees at two of its three campuses starting Nov. 16, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
The newspaper reported that PennWest’s financial strain was brought on by a mix of declining enrollment and increased personnel costs, but the university is also bracing for a potential state budget hit and has been forced to tap its reserves as lawmakers delay passing a state budget.
