Drexel University Lays Off 60 Staff Members Amid Budget Deficit Concerns

In an effort to deliberately cut operating expenses, Drexel University stated that it had laid off 60 employees this month, despite a persisting budget deficit. According to a Drexel representative, these layoffs account for around 1.4% of the university’s staff and were a tough but necessary choice given the challenging financial environment that colleges and universities are now facing. Drexel said, “The decision to lay off members of our professional staff is never made lightly,” according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The university’s strategy seeks to rectify an operating budget imbalance of about 10% while maintaining its robustness.

Although the institution could not provide specifics, the staff members impacted by these reductions came from a variety of departments. Approximately 155 workers have chosen to participate in a voluntary retirement incentive program in addition to the layoffs; this move was undoubtedly made to provide the organization some financial breathing room. Drexel told WHYY News that these layoffs are a part of a larger “multi-year financial resiliency plan” that the company is putting into place in order to meet a $150 million cost reduction target. Notably, this shift has not affected tenured staff.

A discernible decline in traditional revenue streams appears to be the driving force behind these layoffs and budgetary changes. The university’s enrollment has decreased, especially among first-year students; Drexel’s new undergraduate freshmen class this fall was about 500 fewer than expected. The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s statistics, which shows a 5% decline in freshman enrollment over the prior year, is consistent with this pattern. Systemic problems with federal financial aid, particularly the purportedly defective implementation of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, have made financial burdens worse. Drexel stressed that this contributed to the enrollment drop and, as a result, made their financial difficulties worse, according to Action News.

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