Cornell University announced that due to financial turmoil, the university is planning to lay off some staff in an attempt to cut its budget.
In a statement Wednesday, Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff said the university was entering a period of “financial austerity” because of losses of federal funding through contracts, rising costs due to inflation, and workforce growth. He also cited further possible federal funding cuts, “rapidly escalating legal expenses” and potential future taxes on the university’s endowment as reasons for financial austerity.
“Cornell’s funding model, developed over 160 years, is strong and diversified, and has carried us successfully through many past crises. We are now experiencing simultaneous attacks or threats on every element of that model,” Kotlikoff wrote.
The Trump administration froze over $1 billion in federal funding to the university in April over alleged civil rights violations. The White House has pulled funding from a host of universities since the start of Trump’s second term.
“We have been using institutional resources to try to plug these funding holes in the short term, but these interim measures are not sustainable,” He said. “We must immediately address our significant financial shortfalls by reducing costs and enacting permanent change to our operational model.”
The university will begin “a comprehensive review of programs and headcount across the university” according to Kotlikoff. He added that since 2021 staffing “has grown by more than 15% — greatly outpacing our revenue.”
Kotlkoff said that the university will also “consolidate operations and deploy technology where appropriate,” review research operations for cost effectiveness, and restrict discretionary spending.
Hiring will also stay frozen for the 2025-2026 academic year, lengthening a freeze first announced in March.
“These efforts will reduce Cornell’s workforce — a necessity to ensure Cornell’s long-term financial viability,” Kotlikoff said. “While we will make every effort to downsize by attrition, we anticipate involuntary reductions in headcount across the university.”
The statement did not say how large these reductions will be or where they will be made.
The university is the largest employer in Tompkins County, providing 11,285 jobs.
