Boston U halts Ph.D. admissions due to financial concerns of recent graduate student union deal

Boston University appears to have suspended its admissions process for various Ph.D. programs due to large costs of a recent graduate student union deal.

On Tuesday, Inside Higher Ed reported that school is currently suspending doctoral admissions for a dozen of programs in the humanities and social sciences.

[RELATED: ‘Queering Health’ course coming to Boston University]

The website for the Graduate School of Arts and Science currently lists the 12 programs that are not currently receiving applications, including: Classical Studies, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Religion, and Sociology.      

While the school has not officially explained its decision, Inside Higher Ed reports that an obtained email sent from graduate school officials acknowledged the increased costs that have resulted from a recent graduate student union agreement.

In October, BU’s Graduate Workers Union (BUGWU) ended a seven-month strike upon reaching a three-year contract that reportedly increases wages and benefits for over 3,000 graduate students.

According to BU Today, terms of the agreement include: the university continuing to cover annual tuition for Ph.D. students, the university continuing to aid in health insurance costs, a $3,500 childcare subsidy for lower-income families, 14 weeks of paid childcare leave for full-time graduate students who are new parents, as well as a $200,000 “help fund” to supply graduate students with emergency needs.

University Spokesperson Colin Riley told Inside Higher Ed that the move to pause admissions on certain programs was “part of our ongoing review of our doctoral programs,” and that “these actions are part of Boston University’s commitment to re-envision these programs to allow for their long-term sustainability.”

The outlet also reports that several Graduate School of Arts and Science deans referenced the “budgetary implications” of the recent union deal in their email.

”The provost’s office has agreed to fund the increased costs this fiscal year, including students funded on external grants,” Deans Stan Sclaroff and Malika Jeffries-EL reportedly wrote. “Beyond this year, [the College of Arts and Sciences] must work within our existing budget to fund this transition in our doctoral programs.”

On the need to halt admissions, the deans also reportedly said that the move “will ensure that we have the financial resources available to honor the five-year funding commitments we have made to our currently enrolled doctoral students.”

[RELATED: Boston University to celebrate ‘Pansexual and Panromantic Pride Day’]

Following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks on Israel, various American graduate student unions have garnered attention for their ties to anti-Semitic and anti-Israel activism.

In July, graduate students at the University of Chicago sued the Graduate Students United-United Electrical (GSU-UE), arguing that it was unconstitutional for members to be required to pay membership fees that could go toward political causes they disagreed with, such as the BDS movement.

In August, the graduate student union at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reached a settlement with Jewish members who were denied religious exemptions over union dues going toward anti-Israel and anti-Semitic causes.