Dive Brief:
- Saint Louis University has laid off 23 staff members as the private Catholic institution tries to balance its budget and, in its president’s words, “sustain SLU’s long-term financial health.”
- In addition, the Missouri-based university eliminated 30 unfilled faculty roles and 100 vacant staff positions, President Fred Pestello said Friday in a campus message.
- In an Oct. 11 message to faculty and staff about budget cuts, university officials signaled further personnel cuts will likely be needed to balance the university’s budget in fiscal years 2026 and 2027.
Dive Insight:
Pestello described the personnel cuts — in six separate administrative divisions and two of the university’s dozen schools and colleges — as a “painful day for the SLU community” but necessary to meet a commitment by the university to reduce expenses by 4% and balance this year’s budget.
The university ran a total deficit of $5.2 million in fiscal 2023 before booking the sale of SLUCare, the university’s medical practice, according to its latest financials.
In a May budget update, Pestello said the university expected to end fiscal 2024 with a “modest budget deficit” but remained in a “strong overall financial position” going into the next fiscal year, noting that the “financial challenges we face are surmountable.”
At the same time, Pestello pointed to the lingering impact from lower-than-expected first-year student enrollment in fall 2023 and higher tuition discounting for that cohort. He also noted unexpected costs from changes to the university’s research infrastructure as well as to support its international students.
Unlike many institutions undergoing staff and program cuts, SLU’s enrollment has increased overall in recent years, with the 2022 fall headcount of 15,755 students up by more than 1,000 from 2017.
Still, Pestello noted in his message Friday, “Along with many other universities across the country, we are encountering a number of significant challenges and making difficult adjustments in response.”
In the Oct. 11 message to faculty and staff, officials said they’ve paired the cost reductions with increased endowment spending to balance the budget. The layoffs at SLU follow meetings and town halls that included nearly 1,000 faculty and staff, as well as efforts to avoid cutting filled positions.
Despite those efforts, leaders concluded that layoffs were necessary and that more would likely be coming down the road.
“Ultimately, we will become an organization with fewer faculty and staff. This means that many of our jobs will change,” the officials said. “We will need to focus our efforts differently, shifting our work to support areas of highest priority.”
For now, the university has 2,600 full-time employees, including 900 faculty and 1,700 staffers.
As it tries to balance its budget, work groups are currently analyzing administrative functions as well as looking for ways to increase domestic and international enrollment in certain programs.