The University of Maryland is eliminating up to 150 jobs and freezing all new hiring as it’s caught between a state budget deficit and the Trump administration’s cuts to federal research funding.
University President Darryll J. Pines announced the belt-tightening in a letter that cited reduced allocations in the state’s $70.8 billion operating budget for 2027, which Democratic Gov. Wes Moore signed last month to close a projected $1.5 billion deficit.
He noted lawmakers allocated $871.9 million to the University System of Maryland for 2027. That’s a 10% drop of $104 million from 2025.
“Compounding these base budget cuts are reductions and delays in federal research funding and the impact on indirect cost recoveries,” Mr. Pines wrote in his April 27 letter to the campus. “We are also seeing downward pressure on investment earnings, increased utility costs and added costs associated with essential infrastructure.”
He insisted that “the anticipated continuation of budget pressures at the state level, uncertainty around reduced federal funding for research, and increased expenses” necessitated the cuts.
The hiring freeze forbids university departments from creating new positions through at least June 30, with exceptions for externally funded positions. It also limits staff travel and capital expenditures.
Some of the 150 positions to be eliminated are vacant, but others will involve layoffs and retirements. Mr. Pines said the university would review operations to decide how many employees to cut and where.
The 150 cuts would be 0.01% of the 14,000 faculty and staff who serve more than 41,000 students at the institution’s flagship College Park campus, according to the school’s website.
The Washington Times has reached out to the Trump administration for comment.
The Maryland Department of Legislative Services estimates that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that President Trump signed into law last July reduced the state’s revenue by about $371 million.
Other factors in the state’s budget deficit include increased K-12 education funding and Medicaid behavioral health costs.
Dozens of University of Maryland unionized employees protested the cuts at the campus administration building on Wednesday.
The student-run Diamondback newspaper reported that many of them wore green T-shirts with the union’s logo and the slogan: “We run this university.”
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.
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