University of Wisconsin-Madison leaders instructed all academic units to develop 5-10% budget reduction plans for the next fiscal year and implement fiscal controls for the remainder of the current year, citing “significant uncertainty” stemming from potential federal funding cuts to research and other programs, stop-work orders and impacts from tariffs.
In a letter to faculty and staff Friday, Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin, Provost Charles Isbell Jr. and Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Rob Cramer said the university had “very few clear answers” to the rapidly changing federal directives in the last two months but said these measures were intended to safeguard UW-Madison’s financial future and preserve the university’s ability to carry out its mission.
The university directed units to reduce non-essential spending on travel, supplies, equipment and events and review position vacancies to determine whether filling them is critical. They said all commitments for one-time funding for projects and activities were being reviewed to see what could be deferred.
“We take these steps because we believe that careful consideration and stewardship of our expenditures will provide some of the necessary capacity to help protect our research enterprise, to maintain and enhance the student experience, and to provide continued support for faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students,” the university said in the letter.
University leaders also said they would work with schools and colleges to develop plans to provide some centrally sourced bridge funding — temporary financial support provided to researchers — to support the university’s research enterprise.
Bridge funding, which some universities have provided in the past month, would be limited and potentially not meet all needs, university leaders said.
The complete financial situation is hard to assess, as many of the federal actions have been temporarily blocked in court, but it is likely the university will face some level of federal cuts, which probably won’t be supplemented by additional state funding.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, told The Daily Cardinal on Feb. 12 there were no plans for the state Legislature to increase funding to UW-Madison to address a projected $65 million cut in research funding.
The university does not have plans to implement faculty layoffs or raise tuition, UW-Madison Director of Public Affairs Gillian Drummond told the Cardinal. She didn’t address whether the 5-10% budget reduction plans could be made higher depending on if the situation changed.
Chaos across higher education
Since the beginning of his second term, President Donald Trump’s executive orders and related agency directives have wrought havoc across higher education. A decision by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to cap indirect cost rates at 15% would cost UW-Madison roughly $65 million per year if implemented, and Trump has made federal funding — which comprises a quarter of UW-Madison’s budget — contingent on the university ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) activities, “environmental justice research” and race-based programs.
Trump has also threatened to cut all federal funding to universities “that allow illegal protests,” which he has not defined, and has canceled hundreds of millions in federal grants and contracts to universities he said have been lax on combating antisemitism. The Department of Education has been investigating 60 universities, including UW-Madison, over antisemitic discrimination and harassment since January 2024, though it is unclear who will handle that with Trump’s executive order dismantling the department Thursday.
Mnookin said during a Faculty Senate meeting March 3 that substantial budget cuts would likely lead the university to curtail faculty hiring, and university leadership also advised graduate school deans on Feb. 24 to consider decreasing the number of future students admitted to graduate programs.
The uncertainty around funding for next year have also changed graduate programs themselves, with multiple restricting admissions to “direct admit,” since many faculty indicated they don’t believe they’ll have the funds to accept more students, UW-Madison Genetics Professor Nicole Perna told the Cardinal.
The letter also said the university would continue to review how it provides services to campus, underlining that reduced administrative costs would enable more resources to go toward core mission areas.
“By taking prudent financial action when and where possible, we can and will work together to minimize disruptive impacts and focus resources on our important academic, research and outreach missions,” the university said.
Gavin Escott is the campus news editor for the Daily Cardinal. He has covered protests, breaking news and written in-depth on Wisconsin politics and higher education. He is the former producer of the Cardinal Call podcast. Follow him on X at @gav_escott.
