Northwestern University has eliminated about 425 staff positions, the latest in a series of cost-cutting measures amid the Trump administration’s $790-million federal funding freeze.
Roughly half of the positions were already vacant, President Michael Schill told the school community in an email Tuesday afternoon. The reduction will decrease Northwestern’s staff-related expenses by 5%.
“Laying off staff is a drastic step that causes pain and anxiety both for the individuals whose lives are affected, but also for our entire community, and we do not take it lightly,” Schill wrote.
The impacted employees span several schools and units. Personnel costs account for roughly 56% of Northwestern’s total expenditures, and cuts were necessary to bridge a mounting budget gap, according to Schill.
“The past several months have been among the most difficult in our institution’s 174-year history,” he wrote.
The Trump administration’s federal funding freeze in April came as officials launched several investigations into allegations of antisemitism on campus. The university has also received at least 98 stop-work orders and 51 grant terminations.
Northwestern officials say they have yet to receive any official notification on how to restore the paused funding. Meanwhile, faculty members told The Tribune last month that the university was shelling out $10 million a week to keep research efforts afloat.
University officials implemented multiple cost-cutting measures in early June, including a hiring freeze and changes to employee benefits. Even then, officials said staff reductions were likely. Those efforts helped reduce nonpersonnel expenses by 10%, according to Schill’s email.
Even with layoffs, the impact of the frozen funds is expected to ripple across campus. “Even when federal research funding is restored — no matter what that may look like — it will not be enough to reverse the actions we are taking now,” Schill wrote.
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Schill noted that the layoffs aren’t just a response to funding issues. Climbing costs for health care, litigation, labor challenges and a host of changes at the federal level — including potential limits on Northwestern’s ability to enroll international students — contributed to the need for staffing changes.
“While we cannot control outside forces, we will continue to work hard to influence them in our favor, and we vow to be transparent and responsive as we work together to ensure Northwestern serves its mission to be one of the world’s great institutions of teaching and research for generations to come,” Schill said.