|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Stanford University implemented a staff hiring freeze Wednesday – excluding faculty, contingent and student employees – to cut back on costs as the new federal administration aims to slash federal education and research funding.
Stanford did not immediately respond to questions about which roles may be most at risk. Affected staff may include technical, administrative, researcher or maintenance roles, but “critically needed positions” may be approved in limited circumstances, according to a statement from President Jonathan Levin and Provost Jenny Martinez posted Wednesday.
While Levin and Martinez say Stanford is “financially healthy,” they urge the university to carefully consider new financial commitments to prepare for possible cuts.
The freeze will affect hiring for staff employee positions for an undetermined duration, said university spokesperson Luisa Rapport in a message to the Weekly.
Their announcement comes after the new administration set out to dramatically reduce federal spending to departments like the National Institutes of Health.
The NIH, which is the world’s largest source of funding for medical research, aims to reduce the amount of money it would provide to research institutes for “indirect fees” – which broadly includes faculty and administrative costs like building, equipment, operations, maintenance and personnel fees.
Many research institutes request about 30% of their grants to be allocated toward indirect fees, but the federal government aims to lower that cap to 15%, in an effort to save around $4 billion, the NIH wrote in a post on X earlier this month.
“The United States should have the best medical research in the world,” wrote the National Institutes of Health in a statement. “It is accordingly vital to ensure that as many funds as possible go towards direct scientific research costs rather than administrative overhead.”
Massachusetts federal Judge Angel Kelley immediately paused the change in response to multiple lawsuits like one issued by California and 21 other states, but it is only a temporary measure.
The change, if put into play, would have significant negative budget impacts at prominent medical research centers like Stanford, Levin and Martinez wrote.
There have also been multiple Congressional efforts to increase the amount of taxes universities pay on the donations they receive – many of which play a crucial part in private university budgets.
On Jan. 15, Congressman Troy Nehls, a Republican from Texas, proposed the Endowment Tax Fairness Act, which aims to raise taxes on endowments from certain private universities 1.4% to 21%. And on Feb. 7, Congressman Mike Lawler of New York proposed the Endowment Accountability Act, which would lower the per-student endowment amount from $500,000 to $200,000, promoting universities to pay higher taxes on “excess” donations.
These proposals are still under consideration.
“The endowment supports roughly two-thirds of the budget for undergraduate and graduate financial aid, as well as a significant portion of faculty salaries, research, and key programs like libraries and student services,” wrote Levin and Martinez.
Stanford University will continue to provide updates as it creates its budget for the 2025-26 academic year, according to the statement.
