Brown University to cut 48 jobs, 55 openings after federal pressure and student exposé

Brown University announced Monday it will lay off 48 employees and eliminate 55 unfilled budgeted openings as part of a staffing overhaul tied to anticipated federal funding impacts and scrutiny of administrative growth. The university said the actions follow the end of a hiring freeze.

The cuts total 103 positions and are aimed at streamlining administration while preserving core teaching and research functions. The move follows a high-profile push from student activists and coverage from The Brown Spectator, revived this year to challenge perceived bloat.

Alex Shieh, a former Brown student who helped publicize concerns about administrative bloat, has argued that Ivy League campuses have grown into an educational industrial complex that charges high tuition while funding layers of staff not directly supporting classroom learning. He left Brown this summer to start a startup intended to demonstrate success without an Ivy League degree.

Shieh previously drew attention when Brown cleared him of wrongdoing after he circulated a message to Brown employees and created The Brown Spectator; the paper's revival followed a hiatus since 2014.

In June, Shieh testified before the House Judiciary Committee about rising costs at elite universities, calling on lawmakers to scrutinize federal policy's impact on tuition revenue and administrative spending.

Brown’s spokesperson said the staffing reductions were necessary to offset expected losses in the budget from federal impacts, including declines in federal research funding and changes to indirect cost reimbursements for sponsored research.

The university described the actions as part of a broader effort to weather federal funding uncertainties while protecting the classroom and research mission; observers note the debate over administrative growth and its link to tuition costs remains central to national discussions about higher education policy.