Brown University's $46M deficit attributed to unionization and post-COVID growth of faculty and staff roles
On Dec. 16, Brown University Provost Francis Doyle and Executive Vice President Sarah Latham announced the school's next steps to address the nearly $50 million shortfall.
Brown has identified multiple remedies that it will undertake in order to reduce the deficit over the next five to six years, including limiting faculty headcount growth to one percent.
An Ivy League institution recently announced its plans to tackle a $46 million budget deficit, which the school attributes partially to “unionization” and the “rapid growth in faculty and staff positions coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
On Dec. 16, Brown University Provost Francis Doyle and Executive Vice President Sarah Latham announced the school’s next steps to address the nearly $50 million shortfall.
”As Brown evolves its academic and financial model to align with our community’s aspirations for continued growth as a leading research university, we must contend with the key drivers of the deficit,” the officials write.
Such factors include “downward pressure on tuition increases,” as well as the “macroeconomic factors of unexpected high inflation, growth in salaries and benefits, and national trends toward unionization; and rapid growth in faculty and staff positions coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, with staff growth outpacing growth in faculty.”
Brown has identified multiple steps that it will undertake in order to reduce the deficit over the next five to six years, including limiting faculty headcount growth to one percent, and decreasing Ph.D. budget growth from six percent to four percent.
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”We are seeking to slow expense growth in a sustainable way, with an eye toward long-term solutions that allow Brown’s resources to continue to support our community’s priorities and aspirations,” the school writes. “This work is important to ensure the University’s long-term financial health and its standing as a leading research institution, today and for years to come.”
In November, Boston University similarly limited its admissions of Ph.D. applicants following increased costs from a recent graduate student union deal.