Live: USC layoff and budget cut tracker
Tomo Chien
March 11, 2025
USC is paring back spending as it faces what it says are significant financial headwinds.
Last year, the university ran up a $158 million operating deficit. It is apparently determined to fix that. “Difficult decisions are going to have to be made,” Provost Andrew Guzman told the Faculty Senate in November.
Below, find our list of all reported budget cuts, layoffs, and other related news at USC starting August 2024.
We know for a fact that we’re missing several significant cuts. Know of one? Contact us confidentially.
Last updated April 16, 2025.
Humanities projects | April 16, 2025
At least 11 USC projects were kneecapped by funding cuts at the low-profile National Endowment for the Humanities. One grant would’ve funded an architecture professor’s book. Another funded a Chinatown history project.
“This really is symptomatic of the Trump administration’s attack on intellectual life,” said professor Ginger Nolan.
Ph.D. offers | March 27, 2025
Multiple USC doctoral programs are rescinding Ph.D. admission offers because of “uncertainty” in federal funding and the school’s ongoing financial woes, according to memos obtained by Morning, Trojan and university sources familiar with the matter.
Hiring freeze, permanent budget reductions, and more | March 24, 2025
USC ordered an extraordinary set of budget reductions that include a near-total staff hiring freeze and a pause on employee raises — the latest symptoms of the university’s recent financial woes.
The school cited “federal funding uncertainty” and its operating deficit for the mandate. The official list of cuts, though, is boring, dry, and confusing to most people who speak normal English. See our simplified list:
Permanent Budget Reductions: Last year, USC told academic and administrative departments to cut a total of $127 million in annual spending — but it was unclear how long that would last. Now we know it’s permanent.
Procurement Control: If you’re a USC employee who wants to spend more than $50,000 on outside goods or services — lab equipment, furniture, janitors, etc. — you’ll have to get approval from the school’s most senior financial officials.
Capital Spending Slowdown: The school is rethinking its big, long-term projects and might pause some of them. Those could include the still-unfinished Capital Campus or the planned research hub at the Health Sciences Campus.
Staff Hiring Freeze: USC will stop hiring new staff, with a few “critical exceptions.”
Faculty Hiring Curtailment: The school won’t order a total stop on faculty hiring, but it will “significantly” restrict it. It’s unclear what that actually means.
Discretionary Spending Restrictions: Want to travel to that conference? Throw an office holiday party? Fuck you. We’re not funding it.
Enhanced Efficiency: This item doesn’t really mean anything.
No Merit Pool for Faculty and Non-Hospital Staff: You’re not going to get a raise this year.
Sunset of Extended Winter Recess: Employees now have a shorter winter break.
This blurb is only published on our live tracker. Share this link.
S&P downgrades USC’s bond outlook | March 24, 2025
A major credit rating agency downgraded USC’s bond outlook, essentially putting the school on notice: If its reportedly lukewarm financial conditions worsen, it could face a lower credit rating — and thus higher interest rates.
The stern S&P analysis contradicted a recent report that claimed USC is simply “crying poverty” to justify unpopular budget cuts.
Report questions justification for budget cuts | March 14, 2025
A third-party report commissioned by a USC faculty group suggested that the university’s ongoing controversial budget cuts are unnecessary.
The analysis, completed by an accounting professor at Eastern Michigan University, is the first formal report to question the university’s claim in November that it must slash spending to ensure “long-term financial resiliency.”
Trustee and Presidential merit scholarships | March 13, 2025
USC ordered several undergraduate programs to dramatically reduce the number of merit scholarships they offer to incoming students next academic year, citing recent financial woes. The paring back of merit aid could leave the university with fewer tools to woo the nation’s top college applicants.
Scholarships for National Merit Finalists | Dec. 23, 2024
USC dramatically reduced a merit scholarship it offers for students who earn elite scores on their high school PSAT exams.
Students who currently receive the scholarship will not be affected by the roughly 43% reduction, a university spokesperson said.
Daily Trojan staff stipends | Dec. 16, 2024
The Daily Trojan can no longer afford to pay its staff or produce a daily print paper thanks to a significant budget cut, according to an internal announcement obtained by Morning, Trojan.
The paper, whose editorial operation is run by students but funded by USC, has historically paid its writers some $15 per story. Print production will now run three days a week rather than five.
USC warns it’ll order more cuts thanks to operating deficit | Nov. 20, 2024
USC said it must order a series of budget cuts after running on a $158 million operating deficit last fiscal year. The school blamed — among other things — inflation, declining graduate enrollment, and rising athletic expenses for the shortfall.
“Difficult decisions are going to have to be made,” the provost said in a contentious faculty senate meeting.
Read more at Annenberg Media, or see the official announcement.
Tuition benefits for children of employees | Oct. 29, 2024
USC significantly cut key benefits that pay college tuition for the children of faculty and staff, according to interviews and documents obtained by Morning, Trojan. It later partially walked back its decision.
“It’s truly seismic,” said James Moore, a professor emeritus who was present at a Faculty Senate meeting where the cuts were presented. “They’re going to go absolutely apeshit.”
Fundraising communicators | September 2024
USC laid off the vast majority of its Advancement Communications team, according to internal memos obtained by Morning, Trojan.
Those personnel were responsible for building and maintaining relationships with the university’s private donors.
A USC official wrote to staffers in a September email that the Advancement Communications department would transition to a “restructured team” with the university’s central communications staff.
Just five of 14 staffers who reapplied for roles were offered new positions, according to an employee familiar with the matter.
This blurb is only published on our live tracker. Share this link.