Hiring Freeze Enacted at Portland State University Amid Falling Enrollment
“We continue to explore all mechanisms for reducing expenditures and costs.”
The school is also dipping into reserve funding. Sounds serious.
KGW8 News reports:
Portland State University enacts hiring freeze amid falling enrollment
In a letter sent to students and staff Thursday, Portland State University Interim President Stephen Percy announced the school will immediately enact a hiring freeze and will spend $12 million of its reserve funding.
Percy said the school’s enrollment fell more than 4.5 percent this academic year from 2018-2019, and is expected to continue declining for the next couple of years.
The school will also spend up to $12 million of its reserves in the next fiscal year — a large portion of the school’s overall $73 million in endowment as of 2017.
The hiring freeze will include all vacant education and general fund positions that “are not in the final stages of the hiring process,” while some positions will be exempt on a case-by-case basis.
“We continue to explore all mechanisms for reducing expenditures and costs. However, with over 80 percent of the institution’s budget in personnel, our most effective immediate action is to freeze vacant positions and fill them only after careful consideration of how they meet the strategic priorities of the university and are affordable within a reduced budget,” Percy wrote.
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Comments
Nearly all colleges and universities are being impacted by the declining college-age population in the US. Many schools have imported students from abroad (China and India are the prime hunting ground) but schools that aren’t prepared for enrollment drops of several percent a year will be in the same boat as Portland.
I can think of ways of saving money: close up the grievance studies departments.
They appear to be managing cash flow but not product costs (degree) so they can reduce tuition. They need to provide a degree that reflects an education and provides value to the student. They are on a going out of business path. Only the date is TBD.