Harvard University announces hiring freeze amid "rapidly shifting federal policies"
Harvard University says it is freezing hiring for now, citing changes brought on by the Trump administration.
In a letter from university president Alan Garber and other top administrators on Monday, the Ivy League school in Cambridge, Massachusetts said colleges across the country "face substantial financial uncertainties driven by rapidly shifting federal policies."
"Effective immediately, Harvard will implement a temporary pause on staff and faculty hiring across the University," the letter stated.
Temporary hiring pause at Harvard
Harvard, which reported an endowment of more than $53 billion for 2024, said the pause is temporary "until we better understand how changes in federal policy will take shape and can assess the scale of their impact." The freeze is expected to last through at least the current semester.
Additionally, Harvard is asking school leaders to evaluate any non-salary spending and "conduct a rigorous review of any new multi-year commitments."
MIT also announced a hiring freeze for non-essential positions in February "given the uncertain outlook for federal funding," the school said.
Trump threatens to pull federal funding from universities
Last week, the Trump administration moved to cancel $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia University in New York, citing "the school's continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students." Columbia saw pro-Palestinian demonstrators set up encampments on the university lawn and take over a building on campus last year.
President Trump has threatened to pull funding from schools that allow what he called "illegal protests." There were tent encampments for three weeks on Harvard Yard last year, and at other universities in the Boston area.
