Despite reaching an agreement with the Trump administration to restore millions in federal funding late last week, Brown is anticipating staff layoffs and further cost-cutting measures to address a projected $30 million financial loss due to federal actions, University officials said in a Tuesday Today@Brown announcement.
The University aims to address the $30 million negative impact through reducing unrestricted campus expenditures by 2.5% and five budget actions, including monetizing real estate holdings, consolidating health plans and temporarily pausing spending related to campus initiatives aiming for net-zero emissions.
“Recent developments have improved the financial outlook for Brown's budget in the past month,” President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20, Provost Francis Doyle and Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Sarah Latham wrote in the Tuesday announcement.
The $30 million is “far better than the impact we feared a month ago, which ranged from $40 million to well over $100 million for (fiscal year 2026)” they wrote, citing both the government deal and the “One Big Beautiful Bill” as developments that would result in lessened costs for the University.
Last month, Brown took out a $500 million loan on top of an existing $300 million loan incurred in April.
“We felt it was prudent to have the capacity to sustain the University’s operations if we did,” the administrators wrote. “We are evaluating whether we need to have as much debt as we currently have, even as we plan for the persisting implications of federal actions affecting colleges and universities across the country.”
In June, the University announced it would extend its staff hiring freeze until “at least through the end of the summer.” The freeze will end after University units implement plans for budget reductions, which will be shared in September. The salary freeze for the President’s Cabinet, announced in the spring, will also continue through fiscal year 2026.
Cuts to campus expenditures across various departments will also vary by department focus and area, culminating in an overall cut of 2.5%.
“Areas that are core to Brown’s academic mission of education and research, or that generate revenue supporting this mission, have been assigned smaller budget reductions than others, while some areas received larger budget reductions,” administrators wrote.
Cabinet leaders will be in charge of allocating the budget reductions to “prioritize mission-critical activities.” Although they admitted that the cuts may result in some staff layoffs, they wrote that they are encouraging these leaders to eliminate vacant positions that have been budgeted for, rather than laying off current staff.
The University will “remain dedicated to engaging in the thoughtful and collaborative efforts needed to find new ways of working with fewer resources,” they wrote, “but always mindful of the reasons that members of our community have chosen to work, study and live at Brown.”
This is a developing story. Check back for more updates.
Cate Latimer is a university news editor covering faculty, University Hall and higher education. She is from Portland, OR, and studies English and Urban Studies. In her free time, you can find her playing ultimate frisbee or rewatching episodes of Parks and Rec.
