NYU placed an immediate hold on hiring and will lower salary increases for faculty and staff in response to the Trump administration’s threats to withdraw federal funding from research institutions and universities, President Linda Mills told faculty, administrators and staff on Monday.
The joint-letter from Mills, Provost Georgina Dopico and Executive Vice President Martin Dorph stipulated that administrators have identified “a number of financial risk areas,” including federal threats to slash research spending, heightened tariffs and “a range of other proposals” that could influence the university’s budget for the 2025-26 academic year.
An NYU spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the specific risks or long-term effects of the hiring freeze.
Mills said that while the hiring freeze would go into effect immediately, “critically needed positions” can still be filled through an “exception process.” She detailed that NYU will continue to offer its financial aid and scholarship programs, but that staff salaries will likely be “lower than usual,” and that administrators will offer more details as they better understand “various risks and their impact on NYU.”
“We continue to vigorously advocate for robust federal support of higher education,” the letter reads. “Given the scale of potential outcomes, however, we need to address risks sooner than later.”
In the letter, Mills advised individual schools and departments to prepare contingency plans for potential spending cuts to expedite executive changes “should additional budget adjustments be required.” NYU will also examine other means of generating additional revenue “to help offset likely losses.”
NYU is currently on a list of 10 schools facing federal pushback for their response to complaints alleging antisemitic harassment on college campuses, and is among 52 schools to be investigated for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. There has not been additional information regarding specific probes into NYU since the investigations were announced.
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has issued a slew of executive orders targeting universities and has threatened to withhold funding amid his efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. On Wednesday, the University of California and Princeton University also paused hiring practices, following in the footsteps of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and over a dozen other schools preparing for potential budget cuts.
The hiring freezes come as some universities face cuts to federal aid following executive orders to eliminate DEI programs and crack down on pro-Palestinian protests against Israel’s ongoing siege in Gaza. Earlier this month, the Trump administration gutted Columbia University of $400 million in funding amid a federal investigation into the university’s response to instances of alleged on-campus antisemitism, and Johns Hopkins University fired more than 2,000 employees and froze hiring after the administration revoked $800 million from its funding.
In January, Trump’s now-rescinded cutoff of trillions of dollars in federal aid terminated at least two NYU grants, with Dopico having said at the time that there are likely more cancellations to come. Administrators have since said they are dealing with concerns related to research on an individual basis.
“We do not want in any way to minimize the difficulties facing us, but neither will we embrace hopelessness,” the Monday letter read. “NYU — and its faculty, students, administrators and staff — have navigated arduous moments before in our nearly 200-year history while preserving what is important, fulfilling our mission, supporting our community, sustaining our academic trajectory and being good stewards of the university’s resources. We will do so again now.”
Contact Aashna Miharia, Dharma Niles and Yezen Saadah at [email protected].
