![\"Stanford](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/107165_original-scaled.jpg\")
Stanford University\u2019s Hoover Tower on June 7, 2019. Photo by Sinead Chang.<\/p>\nStanford University\u2019s Hoover Tower on June 7, 2019. Photo by Sinead Chang.<\/p>\n
Responding to financial headwinds from the federal administration, Stanford University this week reported that it will be laying off 363 employees, according to a notice that the university filed with the state Employment Development Department.<\/p>\n
The layoffs are part of the university\u2019s plan to reduce its budget by $140 million in the upcoming school year, according to a notice that university President Jonathan Levin and Provost Jenny Martinez sent to faculty and staff on July 31. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the product of a challenging fiscal environment shaped in large part by federal policy change affecting higher education,\u201d Levin and Martinez wrote.<\/p>\n
The university issued the layoff notice on July 31 in accordance with the WARN Act, a state law that requires employers to provide a 60-day notice of mass layoffs. The action comes at a time when the Trump Administration is cutting research funding and taking other punitive actions against elite universities, in some cases based on claims of antisemitism.<\/p>\n
Some universities, including Columbia University and Brown University, are reportedly paying tens of millions of dollars to settle White House allegations of discrimination, while Harvard University is exploring its own settlement, according to the New York Times.<\/p>\n
The administration also suspended last week hundreds of research grants to University of California, Los Angeles, a decision that the White House claims was based on the university\u2019s inadequate response to antisemitism. UCLA Chancelor Julio Frenk called the grant freeze \u201cdeeply disappointing\u201d and said it will be \u201cadversely affecting the lives and life-changing work of UCLA researchers, faculty and staff.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the latest round of layoffs was announced on July 31, Stanford has been bracing for budget cuts for months. In February, the university announced a hiring freeze in response to a reduction in federal spending. And in late June, university officials warned of looming financial pressure thanks to federal policies such as the increase in the endowment tax that was included in the federal government\u2019s recently passed spending bill.<\/p>\n
For Stanford, the tax rate on endowment is going up from 1.4% to 8%. Martinez warned in late June that the endowment tax will heavily impact undergraduate financial aid. The university\u2019s updated budget cut $140 million from the general fund.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is significant uncertainty about how federal support for universities will evolve, but it is clear that the status quo has changed,\u201d Levin and Martinez wrote at that time.<\/p>\n
In a letter accompanying the WARN notice, Stanford asserted that economic uncertainty has created \u201cserious operational and financial challenges for higher education institutions.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cAt Stanford, anticipated changes in federal policy\u2014such as reductions in federal research funding and an increase in the excise tax on investment income\u2014are expected to have significant budgetary consequences,\u201d Elizabeth Zacharias, the university\u2019s vice president for human resources, wrote. \u201cThese developments, along with rising operational costs, shifts in funding sources, and programmatic changes, have resulted in this workforce reduction.\u201d<\/p>\n
The list of layoffs includes development officers, graphic designers, administrative service administrators, business analysts, communications managers, librarians and student services officers, according to the notice.<\/p>\n
David Canepa, president of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, called the endowment increase \u201ceconomic sabotage.\u201d In an Aug. 5 statement, Canepa criticized the federal bill that prompted the layoffs, which will unfold between Sept. 30 and Nov. 1 and impact research, administration, student services and other areas of the university.<\/p>\n
\u201cStanford\u2019s announcement that it is laying off hundreds of hardworking employees is a gut punch to our local economy and to families already struggling to make ends meet,\u201d\u00a0Canepa\u00a0said in the statement. \u201cMake no mistake, these cuts are the direct result of the so-called \u2018Big Beautiful Bill,\u2019 a devastating piece of federal legislation that prioritizes politics over people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Correction: The story had initially listed the incorrect rate on the endowment tax increase.<\/p>\n
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