PROVIDENCE – Brown University has lost $45 million in National Institutes of Health funding since April 3 due to significant federal research funding decreases, according to a recent letter to the campus community from the Ivy league institution’s leadership.
While Brown’s top leaders – President Christina H. Paxson, Provost Francis J. Doyle III and Vice President for Finance and Administration Sarah Latham – say the university is taking steps to address the financial shortfalls, including extending its hiring freeze until the end of the summer, the savings Brown has achieved thus far “is not enough to cover deep financial losses” it’s experiencing and it’s going to get worse.
Brown, and other Ivy League schools – including Columbia University and Harvard University – have been in the crosshairs with the Trump administration over
alleged violations of the federal 1964 Civil Rights Act’s Title VI and
possible millions in research grant cuts. Brown has also joined multiple lawsuits, including against the
National Science Foundation and the
U.S. Department of Energy, over grant funding cuts.
Paxson, Doyle and Latham said Monday the lost NIH funds is increasing by approximately $3.5 million per week. That amount, they said, is about double the university’s budget for salary increases in the coming year and “more than three times” Brown’s budgeted increase in student financial aid in the coming year.
“Since April 3, the government has, with no formal explanation, ceased paying bills on existing Brown grants from the National Institutes of Health, which represent [more than] 70% of the university's federal research funding,” the officials said.
Brown also says it is bracing for impact on “multiple Congressional actions” that makes the university’s financial picture more sobering, the top officials says. One example they note is the tax that Brown pays on investment income could result in “a [funding] loss of tens of millions of dollars” annually.
Also, changes to Pell grants, the federal work-study program and student educational opportunity grants would result in $8.8 million in annual losses, Brown leaders say. Plus, while Brown doesn’t know how much federal rates for covering universities’ indirect costs will be reduced, cutting them in half at Brown would reduce the school’s ability to cover research costs by about $31 million per year.
“All these losses represent an ongoing threat to Brown’s financial sustainability and, consequently, our ability to fulfill our mission,” the officials said. “We are doing everything possible to minimize the impact, and we are proud of the response of this community in making important changes to operations to reduce expenses over the past year.”
In response, Brown officials say the university has secured a $300 million “term loan” to help manage its finances and priorities.
Brown spokesperson Brian Clark in an email Monday to Providence Business News said the university opted to negotiate directly with an unidentified lender in order to tailor the loan to Brown's particular objectives in lieu of entering the public taxable debt markets, as some of Brown's peers have done recently.
When asked if the university has considered tapping into its
$7.2 billion endowment to help with one-time emergency expenses to cover the financial shortfalls, Clark said the endowment provides support for the university’s financial aid, faculty salaries and academic and co-curricular programs; and consists of more than 3,800 unique funds that are legal contracts given as charitable gifts by alumni, parents, students and university friends. Such funds are "restricted" by law and purpose for their designated use, and "cannot simply be reallocated," Clark said.
"Contrary to what’s often understood, funding from the endowment plays a vital role in supporting priorities across the university every day. For the fiscal year at Brown that [ended Monday], Brown’s endowment [provided] $337.7 million of revenue to support student scholarships, professorships, academic programs, teaching and research, among many other priorities," Clark added. "At 5.5% for FY25, our endowment payout was the highest rate allowed per university policy and in alignment with the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act, to which Brown’s and all endowments are legally subject. For the fiscal year that begins on July 1, we have again maintained the payout at the highest rate of 5.5%."
The school also is both working with deans to identify research that is “at risk of serious disruption” and to examine new grant proposals federal agencies are not reviewing, they said, and recently launched a new “research resilience fund” to help build fundraising opportunities with donors.
“We have consistently and publicly stated Brown's commitment to meeting its legal obligations, as well as our willingness to understand any valid concerns the government may have about the way the university effectively fulfills them,” the officials said. “Just as important, we have continued to stand by our core values of advancing knowledge and understanding and protecting academic freedom in a diverse, thriving community.”
(ADDS paragraphs 10-12 with comment from Brown University spokesperson Brian Clark.)
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.
