University leaders provided additional details about the cuts and changes in a Sept. 22 letter to the campus community, writing “several developments over the summer lessened, but have not eliminated, the negative impact of federal actions on Brown’s operating budget.”
“We want to acknowledge the gravity of these measures for those directly affected by layoffs and for their colleagues,” reads the letter, signed by President Christina H. Paxson and other administrators. “The university will provide support to impacted employees, including severance packages and outplacement services.
“We are committed to ensuring that this transition will be handled with empathy and care, and ensuring that each person is supported and treated respectfully throughout the process,” the letter continues. “In addition, we are committed to helping individuals explore opportunities for placement in other open positions at Brown wherever possible.”
Brown already faced a $29 million deficit in the 2026 fiscal year budget approved in May. But the university has also had to grapple with fallout from the “Big Beautiful Bill” and other changes at the federal level.
Paxson said in August the university was expecting a significant decline in federal research funding from agencies including the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. There is also a threat of large cuts to cost reimbursements for research grants, and other policy changes could impact tuition revenue, according to Paxson.
In the new letter, officials wrote the university opted to “evenly divide budget measures between central university actions to reduce expenses by $15 million” and to give “academic and administrative units the discretion to decide how and where to reduce spending in their own areas to achieve the remaining $15 million in reductions.”
The latter includes the elimination of 55 unfilled positions and 48 layoffs, officials wrote. The university planned to begin notifying impacted employees last week, according to the letter.
Operating costs will also be reduced “across units, including decreased travel, reduced spending on external vendors and consulting, less discretionary spending on equipment, activities, tools and resources, and shifts to restricted funding sources,” the letter states.
The reductions will “inevitably create challenges for some units and will affect service levels across campus,” the letter states.
“Multiple units have developed plans for decreased service levels to reduce expenses, and these changes represent a shared commitment to placing Brown on stronger financial footing,” officials wrote.
Additional changes at the “university-wide level” to cover the other $15 million include temporarily pausing spending on plans to move Brown to net-zero emissions; consolidating health plans to a single provider; “monetizing non-strategic real estate holdings on College Hill and in the Jewelry District;” temporary reductions in “information technology and facilities renewal;” and “prioritizing fundraising for current-use gifts that have an immediate positive budgetary impact,” the letter states.
In March, Brown froze hiring for the remainder of the 2025 fiscal year amid a $46 million deficit. The university has also had to dip into its $7.2 billion endowment, one of the smallest among Ivy League schools.
In July, Brown took out a $500 million loan, and in April, the school borrowed $300 million to face “deep financial challenges.” But developments over the summer, including the controversial agreement with the Trump administration that closed three federal investigations into the university, mean the university is less likely to rely on debt to support its operations.
In their recent letter, officials wrote “the campus-wide freezes on hiring, travel, and discretionary spending are no longer in effect.”
“The cost savings the university realized with the temporary freezes today are being achieved by the permanent 2.5 percent reductions in expenditures across units,” officials wrote.
The letter also warned, however, “financial uncertainty remains,” citing how university officials “expect federal impacts for all colleges and universities to deepen in [fiscal year 2027] and beyond.”
“We know that this uncertainty makes planning difficult, and we are committed to continuing to share information as it becomes available and supporting our community in navigating the path ahead,” the letter states.
Material from previous Globe stories was used in this report.
Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.
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