Johns Hopkins University pauses pay increases, reduces spending due to funding uncertainty

CBS News

a day ago

Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore is implementing a hiring freeze and pausing annual pay increases due to the uncertainty of funding sources, the school confirmed.
The university added that it will reduce the number of research projects and cut back on spending on expenses, including travel, food, supplies, and professional services.
"Although the precise timing and impact of funding reductions will vary across our divisions — depending on funding sources, student composition, and other factors — many parts of the university are already experiencing the effects of these developments and facing uncertainties about the future," Johns Hopkins President Ron Daniels, Provost Ray Jayawardhana and Executive VP for Finance and Administration Laurent Heller said in a joint letter.
In the meantime, Johns Hopkins said it is taking steps to develop strategies that will improve its financial challenges. While the university awaits the final federal budget plans, leaders said that expense reductions will continue through at least the 2026 academic year, and possibly longer.
Funding cuts impact Johns Hopkins' research projects
Johns Hopkins confirmed that the university lost more than $800 million from USAID grant terminations. Since January, Hopkins said, 90 grants have ended with the loss of $50 million in federal research funding.
JHU has been one of the top recipients of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding to assist in groundbreaking research. In April, the Trump administration said it planned on cutting the NIH budget by more than 40%.
According to CBS News, more than 1,500 NIH employees have been laid off in 2025, and more than $2 billion in research grants have been cancelled.
"We fear that this downward trend may be laying the groundwork for deep cuts to the extramural research programs at the NIH, NSF, DOD and DOE—further fraying the extraordinary and longstanding research partnership between universities and the federal government and significantly curtailing Hopkins' capacity to undertake our core academic and research mission and to sustain the people who allow us to realize it," Johns Hopkins leaders said.
In May, Hopkins said it was laying off 2,200 workers because of the loss of funding from USAID.
"Moreover, we are seeing a marked decline in the pipeline of new federal research awards at Hopkins, down by nearly two-thirds since January, compared to the same period last year, despite continued high scores and an increase in submissions by our researchers," Hopkins officials said in the letter.
Visas revoked for international students
The Trump administration has revoked visas for international students across the country, including at Johns Hopkins University. The administration also paused student visa appointments for international student applicants.
The effort is part of a push to scrutinize social media accounts as part of the student visa applications, according to CBS News.
JHU confirmed to WJZ in April that at least 37 international students have had their visas revoked.
The Trump administration started revoking visas from students who were said to have participated in pro-Palestine protests that took over some college campuses in 2024.
In 2024, protests at Johns Hopkins lasted for about two weeks, with students setting up tents and occupying a part of the campus with an encampment.
"The recent moves by the federal government to revoke or withhold visas from eligible international students and scholars run counter to more than a century of collaboration at Hopkins with students and scholars who hail from around the world," Hopkins said. "Our international community has always been critical to our research mission, and we are deeply concerned about the toll of this uncertainty on our students and on our university as a whole."