With over 280,000 students and 227,000 faculty and labor staff, the university is one of the nation’s largest higher education systems.
The University of California ordered a system-wide employment freeze and made cuts to mitigate the impact of state and federal funding cuts, school president Michael V. Drake said on March 19.
Additionally, he said the 2025-26 California budget would require a significant cut in university budgets.
The University of California operates one of the nation’s largest higher education systems, with 10 campuses, six academic health centers and three national laboratories. It has over 280,000 students and 227,000 faculty and staff work at the university.
Drake said he instructed all locations at the University of California to prepare financial strategies and workforce management plans to address potential shortages.
He also said he instructed all university locations to implement cost-saving measures such as delayed maintenance and reduced births to help protect funds.
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Cuts at both the federal and state levels will have “particularly profound impacts” on the university, Drake said, adding that he and other school leaders are “working strongly and working together” with state and federal election officials to ensure the university’s mission and priorities.
He said the university’s legal team is “preparing for this moment” and “working diligently to protect the university and our mission through the courts.”
The Epoch Times contacted the White House for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
On March 18, Moody’s rating downgraded the 2025 outlook for the U.S. higher education sector from stable to negative, saying “recent and potential federal policy changes create a more challenging operating environment for universities.”
“The macroeconomic uncertainty driven by policy change and market volatility adds the risk to institutions that are dealing with the challenges of growing costs and registering already,” Moody’s said.
It was noted that the best institutions with strong demand and important financial resources are better at addressing such challenges.
Reuters contributed to this report.
