ST. LOUIS — Washington University in St. Louis has eliminated more than 300 positions and left nearly 200 vacancies unfilled as it works to balance its budget amid cuts to federal research funding and “redundancies” in operations, the chancellor said Tuesday.
Chancellor Andrew Martin spoke of the “difficult steps” WashU has taken since March in a statement posted on the school’s website Tuesday, after news broke the private university had eliminated 38 positions in its office tasked with fundraising on Monday.
WashU has eliminated 316 staff positions across its Danforth and medical campuses, as well as its “central fiscal unit,” which refers to administrative divisions outside of the university’s individual schools, including IT, University Advancement, police and more. Another 198 open positions will not be filled.
The cuts were made to ensure WashU maintains a “sustainable path forward,” Martin said, as the university grapples with cuts to grants and “other external funding.”
There also are internal issues, which Martin said derived from “decisions and structures that have, over time, created ineffective processes and redundancies in the way we operated.”
The statement did not get more specific and a spokesperson did not address additional questions, including how much federal research funding WashU has lost.
The chancellor’s statement also cited “the changing needs of students” in regard to technology and “innovations in teaching and learning.”
Martin’s statement did not address a concern shared by some employees: that the university made investments it could not sustain after an unprecedented 65% return on the university’s endowment in 2021 allowed WashU to invest $1 billion in financial aid. The investment included $800 million to support need-blind admissions – when a student’s ability to pay tuition is not taken into account – for undergraduates and $200 million in financial aid for graduate students.
At $12 billion as of June 2024, WashU’s endowment is one of the largest in the nation. It nearly has doubled over the past 10 years — from $6.7 billion in 2014, according to financial disclosure statements.
The majority of WashU’s endowment, $7.6 billion, is restricted, meaning the university only can spend the money in ways individual donors intended, such as scholarships and capital projects.
Martin previously had opined about a heightened tax on the university’s endowment that will cost WashU about $37 million per year.
Financial disclosures show WashU, as of June 2024, was operating at a net $150 million surplus. In a July memo, Martin said the university expected to “break even” for the fiscal year that ended June 30.
The most recent financial documents for fiscal 2025 are not yet publicly available, but fall enrollment statistics released earlier this month show WashU had 15,958 students as of the fourth week of classes this fall. That’s about 400 students less than this time last year.
In all, Martin’s statement said, budgets have been reduced and restructured to the tune of $52 million in annual savings.
Martin seemed to suggest more cuts could come.
“While this particular round of staff reductions is complete, we must continue to evaluate how we work and identify additional ways to operate more effectively in support of our mission, if we are to be successful,” Martin said.
WashU claims it is the second largest employer in the region, with 22,181 total employees.
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Monica Obradovic | Post-Dispatch
Education reporter
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