Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 86

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences is running an estimated structural deficit of approximately $350 million, a major shortfall that will require a dramatic reworking of its budget, FAS Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra announced in an email to affiliates... The projected deficit, which is equivalent to roughly 20 percent of the school’s annual operating budget, reflects the recent increase in the federal endowment tax and a rise in long-term operating costs. The figure does not account for uncertainty about the future of federal funding, including potential decreases in federal agency budgets, the number of new grants, and lower reimbursement rates for indirect research costs.

...The projections come months into an extensive cost-cutting effort at the FAS. The school paused non-essential capital projects, drastically reduced its Ph.D. admission numbers, halted staff hiring, and kept its budget flat for this year amid growing concerns about how the Trump administration’s policies would tighten the school’s budget.

The $350 million estimate was produced by the Faculty Resources Committee, a group that advised the FAS on navigating the 2008 financial crisis and which Hoekstra reconvened in the spring...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/11/5/fas-structural-deficit/.