Columbia president: 180 jobs lost due to Trump administration funding cuts

Columbia University’s acting president said Tuesday that 180 jobs will be lost at the school due to funding cuts from the Trump administration.

“Moving forward, we will be running lighter footprints of research infrastructure in some areas and, in others, maintaining a level of research continuity as we pursue alternate funding sources. In some cases, schools and departments are winding down activity but remain prepared to reestablish capabilities if support is restored,” university officials including Claire Shipman, the school’s acting president, said in a message to Columbia’s community.

“Across the research portfolio we have had to make difficult choices and unfortunately, today, nearly 180 of our colleagues who have been working, in whole or in part, on impacted federal grants, will receive notices of non-renewal or termination,” the officials added.

In early March, the Trump administration announced that $400 million in grants to Columbia were canceled amid an antisemitism probe into the school.

According to the Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education and the U.S. General Services Administration, the cancellation was caused by “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”

In recent months, the Trump administration has targeted higher education institutions over alleged inaction over campus antisemitism and policies around transgender athletes.

“The excellence of our research portfolio is fundamental to our identity, and we are determined to support it,” the Columbia officials said in their Monday message.

“Part of that support means recognizing a changing landscape. Increasing budget constraints combined with uncertainty related to future levels of federal funding for research, including proposed reductions in facilities and administration (i.e., indirect costs) reimbursements, requires us to make difficult choices,” they added.