05/19/2026
NEWS | Officials announced Tuesday GW’s budget will face a net decrease of $46.5 million next fiscal year to combat ongoing financial challenges like declining international and graduate enrollment combined with rising costs as the University cuts expenses for the second year in a row.
The Board of Trustees approved the $46.5 million cut to FY2027’s budget at their annual May meeting last week to counter continued enrollment declines driven by “intensifying competition” with peer institutions to recruit undergraduate students, falling international student enrollment caused by President Donald Trump-era visa policies, reduced graduate enrollment due to changes in federal financial aid and rising operating costs in non-discretionary areas like infrastructure, utilities and transportation, officials said in an email to faculty and staff and obtained by The Hatchet Tuesday. The email, which University President Ellen Granberg, Interim Provost John Lach, Chief of Staff Scott Mory and Chief Financial Officer Bruno Fernandes signed, said the Board-approved budget includes allocated funds for a 3 percent merit pool to fund salary increases for eligible employees next fiscal year after officials halted the merit increase for FY2026.
Read the full story at the link in our bio.
Story by Arunmoy Das
Photo by Kris Park
