MIT to cut student intake, staff jobs due to fund reduction by Trump govt

Business Standard

23-05-2025

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US will reduce the number of graduate students it admits and lay off staff because of budget problems caused by less government funding and new tax rules. The announcement has fuelled broader concerns over the future of academic research in the United States.
According to a Bloomberg report, MIT will admit about 100 fewer graduate research students in the 2025 academic year. This is an 8 per cent drop from the current year. The cuts are happening because MIT is getting less money from federal agencies like the National Institutes of Health.
MIT is also reducing jobs in its administrative departments. A spokesperson, Kimberly Allen, said the university is asking all departments to cut their budgets by up to 10 per cent. However, she did not say how many staff members will lose their jobs.
Bloomberg reported, MIT President Sally Kornbluth anticipates more problems in the future. 'There could be more damage to MIT and to universities all across America, and to the entire American research ecosystem,' she said. 'While we do everything in our power to prevent that, we'll also be working to prepare the Institute and our community for a range of outcomes.'
Why is MIT cutting admissions and staff?
These budget problems are partly due to new policy changes under the Trump administration. One proposal passed by the US House of Representatives would raise taxes on colleges with large endowments. Private universities like MIT could face a 21 per cent tax on investment income—much higher than the current 1.4 per cent rate.
MIT's endowment is worth $25 billion, but most of it is already committed to specific purposes. Kornbluth warned that the new tax would be 'a devastating level of taxation' and could cost MIT hundreds of millions of dollars. This money usually supports research and student aid.
How is MIT responding to funding challenges?
Although MIT is doing better than nearby Harvard University—which has faced even more serious funding issues—Kornbluth said the cuts are still difficult for any research university. 'I truly wish there were another way to do this,' she said about the staff layoffs.
MIT has also launched an online campaign to show how important its research is for the country. Kornbluth asked former students to speak up for science funding. 'We need the whole country to appreciate that by investing in university research and educating the next generation of explorers and innovators, the country has reaped, and will continue to reap, tremendous rewards,' she said.