Latest news with #ElizabethZacharias
Yahoo
06-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Stanford University lays off 363 employees
This story was originally published on Higher Ed Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Higher Ed Dive newsletter. Dive Brief: Stanford University laid off 363 staff members last week as part of a plan to reduce its budget by $140 million for the 2025-26 academic year. In a July 31 message to campus, senior university leaders attributed the need for cuts to "a challenging fiscal environment shaped in large part by federal policy changes affecting higher education." The private California institution warned of forthcoming layoffs in June, when it extended a hiring freeze implemented in February and said it would focus capital spending on critical projects or those with external sources of funding. Dive Insight: "Ongoing economic uncertainty" has created serious challenges for the higher education sector, according to Elizabeth Zacharias, Stanford's vice president for human resources. "At Stanford, anticipated changes in federal policy — such as reductions in federal research funding and an increase in the excise tax on investment income — are expected to have significant budgetary consequences," Zacharias said in a July 31 filing with the California Employment Development Department. Like many research institutions, Stanford has suffered under the tidal wave of efforts by the Trump administration to slash federal spending on research and development — despite some of those moves being blocked in court for the time being. Changes to the endowment tax could also hit Stanford hard. In fiscal 2024, the university had the fourth-largest endowment among U.S. colleges, valued at $37.6 billion, according to research from the National Association of College and University Business Officers and asset management firm Commonfund. Before 2017, colleges did not pay taxes on their endowment earnings. That year, a GOP-controlled Congress enacted a 1.4% tax on private nonprofit colleges with at least $500,000 in endowment assets per student. But President Donald Trump's signature spending bill introduced a tiered tax based on endowment assets per student that will more than quintuple the tax for the wealthiest institutions from 1.4% to 8%. Stanford, with roughly $2.1 million in endowment assets per full-time-equivalent student, will likely pay the top rate. These shifts, combined with rising operational costs and changes to funding sources and programs, pushed Stanford to implement layoffs, Zacharias said. Stanford employs 18,000 staff and faculty, according to its website. The affected employees — about 2% of its workforce — worked in departments from across the university, ranging from student support services to libraries to donor and alumni relations, according to legal filings. In addition to 60 days of legally mandated paid notice to impacted workers, eligible employees received severance packages and career transition services, a university spokesperson confirmed Wednesday. Recommended Reading Stanford University expects layoffs in coming year
The Independent
05-08-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Stanford University laying off hundreds due to Trump cuts
Stanford University is set to lay off hundreds of employees, citing 'changes in federal policy' under the Trump administration. The elite California private school laid off 363 employees last week, a university spokesperson told The Independent. The move affected roles across departments, including those working in administration, research, alumni relations and campus operations, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. 'The university is providing support resources as well as layoff benefits to eligible employees,' school officials said in a July 31 statement. 'Nonetheless, these are difficult actions that affect valued colleagues and friends who have made important contributions to Stanford.' The layoffs are the result of 'ongoing economic uncertainty' and 'anticipated changes in federal policy — such as reductions in federal research funding and an increase in the excise tax on investment income,' according to a letter from Stanford Vice President for Human Resources Elizabeth Zacharias reviewed by the Chronicle. President Donald Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' — which he signed into law last month — increased Stanford's endowment tax from 1.4 percent to 21 percent, the Chronicle reports. Stanford's $37.6 billion endowment is among the largest in the country. Stanford also lost a significant amount of federal research funding as agencies like the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation are impacted by ongoing funding freezes, the Chronicle reports. Stanford has also been forced to make a $140 million reduction in its general budget for the upcoming year, according to a June statement from the school's president and provost. The school officials cited 'significant budget consequences from federal policy changes.' 'These changes include reductions in federal research support and an increase in the endowment tax,' the statement reads. The Trump administration has taken aim at higher education this year, and some schools have made deals with the administration to ensure federal funding isn't withheld. For instance, Columbia University in New York City agreed to pay the Trump administration a $200 million settlement last month to prevent funding cuts over claims that the elite school failed to combat antisemitism. Columbia University has not admitted wrongdoing and 'does not agree with the government's conclusion that it violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act,' according to a July 23 statement from the school. 'We are not, however, denying the very serious and painful challenges our institution has faced with antisemitism,' the statement continues. 'For these reasons, we took several important corrective steps in March, many of which are in this agreement, including a new provision for a liaison to the Jewish community, situated in University Life.'
