The Trump administration is calling for the intertwining of university finances and government funds to place schools in a short chain tied to their research capabilities.
Colombia has already lost $400 million in grants for what the government calls inaction against anti-Semitism. Harvard is implementing a job freeze due to financial “uncertainty” in federal policies. Johns Hopkins University announced Thursday it would let go of 2,000 workers to cut federal aid.
Republicans cheer on these moves, and others question why these big universities receive a lot of financial support in the first place, but experts say scientific research is heavily dependent on federal dollars, and the lack of that could lead to schools having to clean up their fundraising strategies.
“It's a long-standing relationship. As the federal government is pulling back investments in these areas, it will have serious consequences for the institution,” said Liz Clark, vice president of policy and research for business officers at national universities and universities.
Most higher education institutions receive federal dollars in the form of student aid and Pell grants that President Trump has not yet threatened.
But that's another story for research institutions, with hundreds of schools receiving federal funds for education, healthcare, agriculture and other research programs. National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, 2021 University Found at the University I received it from people around me $49 billion in federal research and development funding.
All of these measures are under attack as government efficiency (DOGE) has taken x to various federal agencies and programs.
In the education sector, the Institute of Education Sciences has cancelled its hundreds of millions of dollars research contracts.
And perhaps most dangerous to scientific research, the National Institutes of Health later declared that it would allow schools to reach 69% at Harvard, compared to 15% of administrative overhead from grants.
The move was more targeted when the federal government announced that $400 million would be taken from Colombia after more than a year of Republicans criticised the university for handling pro-Palestinian protests.
The University of Maine later lost about $30 million from the US Department of Agriculture after the state governor was made public with President Trump over transgender athlete policy.
While focused action against Maine and Columbia could face legal challenges, universities may have to deal with the possibility of succumbing to demands from the administration or prioritizing which research can be conducted without federal support.
The Trump administration on Friday will have to add Colombia to its policy to begin funding recovery, including changes to protest rules and disciplinary procedures and placing research wings in the Middle East, South Asia and Africa under “academic receivers” for at least five years.
“Half of these things that you can't do, the other half is insane,” says Joseph Howley, a professor of classics in Columbia. He told the Associated Press. “If the federal government can show up and request that the university department be closed or restructured, then there are no universities in this country.”
Clark said “there are questions about what falls under current law,” but when it comes to immediate budgetary concerns, “the agency will make priorities.”
“It's likely that they're taking into account things that absolutely must continue, what they want to continue, and what they may not have the resources to continue,” she said.
Harvard has enacted employment freezes that will stay at least until the end of the school year, communicate leadership in different university schools, and “scrutinize discretionary and non-paid spending, reassessing the scope and timing of capital renewal projects, and implementing a rigorous review of new multi-year commitments.”
Johns Hopkins University said Thursday it was firing 2,000 workers for a massive Doge cut to the U.S. International Development Agency.
The reduction may just be beginning. On Friday, the Ministry of Education released a survey of dozens of universities on what is called diversity, equity and inclusive practices. The agency said it could lose funds that it would not comply at the school of “dear colleagues” letters.
People outside the school question why they face such a catastrophic cut, so they don't do anything more to capitalize on their contributions. Harvard, the nation's largest, has over $50 billion, which is larger than most states' annual budgets.
A donation is a series of donations to universities that are invested by institutions to support their mission. Money is usually legally required to go to certain aspects of the university, and in many cases it is not possible to move to other areas based on donor preferences and other guidelines.
“Donations consist of thousands of individual funds. They don't function like a savings account… You can go to the bank with your ATM card, your debit card, and take the money on what you want and use it. They are a collection of funds designated for a particular purpose, and are legally binding purposes,” said Stephen Bloom, vice president of government relations at the American Council of Education.
Another potential challenge for schools is the timing of Trump's cuts. Most universities set budgets one year ago starting in the summer.
“We're here in the middle of the fiscal year and they could potentially lose billions of dollars,” Bloom said. [the Massachusetts Institute of Technology] And others don't have hundreds of millions of dollars lying down to make up for that shortfall. ”
