Key points
- Harvard says pause temporary
- It has endowment of more than $53b for 2024
- Freeze expected to last through current semester
ISLAMABAD: One of the United States’ wealthiest schools, Harvard, has announced a hiring freeze.
The development comes after other schools announced efforts to save money.
Citing the uncertainty created by Trump’s threats to slash funding for higher education, Harvard President Alan M Garber wrote that Harvard will “implement a temporary pause on staff and faculty hiring,” among other austerity measures.
This is in response to substantial financial uncertainties driven by rapidly shifting federal policies, he said.
Funding cut fears
A little over a month ago, the Trump administration announced a change in federal support for research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The White House earlier announced the cancellation of approximately $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University “due to the school’s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”
Belt-tightening initiatives
Throughout the past month, Northwestern, MIT, Stanford, and Yale have unveiled similar belt-tightening initiatives, according to Harvard Magazine.
Harvard, which reported an endowment of more than $53 billion for 2024, said the pause is temporary “until we better understand how changes in federal policy will take shape and can assess the scale of their impact.”
The freeze is expected to last through at least the current semester.
Additionally, Harvard is asking school leaders to evaluate any non-salary spending and “conduct a rigorous review of any new multi-year commitments.”
Trump’s allegations
The Trump administration’s actions against Columbia due to allegations of campus antisemitism could extend to Harvard, too, according to CBS News.
Columbia has been the epicentre of student protest during Israel’s war on Gaza.
