Harvard University, the University of Washington and the University of Pittsburgh are among the latest institutions of higher education to announce hiring freezes, citing the uncertainty around federal funding.
Leaders at a growing number of universities across the country say they are looking for ways to cut costs and buy time, as questions swirl around President Trump’s efforts to slash financial support for some schools. Education experts say the pullback of resources will not only hurt current and prospective students, staff and faculty, but could also harm the local economies of university towns and ultimately make the U.S. less competitive globally.
“The lack of clarity and uncertainty concerning future federal research support means loss of opportunity to American science,” said Toby Smith, senior vice president for government relations and public policy at the Association of American Universities. “There will be fewer job offers to new researchers and fewer offers of admission to Ph.D. candidates.”
Many universities have said that the hiring pauses are temporary, and will be evaluated when they have more information about the status of federal support.
“It is meant to preserve our financial flexibility until we better understand how changes in federal policy will take shape and can assess the scale of their impact,” Harvard President Alan Garber wrote in his announcement on Monday.
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