Bowie State University Laying Off Employees While Facing $18 Million Deficit

Bowie State University Laying Off Employees While Facing $18 Million Deficit

This story is eerily similar to what happened to Hampshire College. The drop in enrollment says it all.

The Baltimore Banner reports:

Bowie State University to lay off employees amid $18 million deficit

Bowie State University will eliminate 79 jobs through reorganization, vacancies and layoffs as the university deals with its second multimillion-dollar deficit in two years.

Maryland’s oldest historically Black university is facing an $18 million deficit, President Aminta Breaux announced in a message to the campus on Tuesday. That follows last year’s $13.6 million budget shortfall, which was corrected through hiring delays and eliminating vacant positions, she wrote. Bowie State employs 1,175 workers, according to public data, so the workforce will shrink by about 6%.

“We recognize that this period may bring uncertainty and want to assure you that we are approaching each decision with care, thoughtfulness and deep respect for our faculty, staff and students,” Breaux wrote.

This year’s deficit stems from reduced state and federal funding, declining enrollment and rising operational costs, according to the message. Bowie State is not the only public university to be facing these headwinds — the University of Maryland, College Park, announced last month that it will cut up to 150 jobs and freeze hiring amid its own budget shortfall.

Lower enrollment projections at Bowie State, Breaux wrote, are impacting tuition, fee and auxiliary revenues, which along with rising costs create a “broader structural gap that will require thoughtful, sustained action.”

The HBCU saw a 27% decline in freshman enrollment between 2022 and 2025, from 1,170 first-year students to 844.

It also saw the largest single-year enrollment drop among the University System of Maryland last year. Overall enrollment at the school fell 6%, from 6,353 students in fall 2024 to 5,970 a year later.

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