Federal Funding Uncertainty Prompts Hiring Freezes

Facing financial unknowns associated with President Donald Trump’s attempted overhaul of higher education—including proposed caps on federal health research funding—universities are scrambling to minimize the financial fallout. Even some of the wealthiest universities in the nation have already frozen hiring, paused graduate admissions and taken other actions as officials estimate the potential damage if the National Institutes of Health plan to cap reimbursements for indirect research costs moves ahead. Currently the Trump administration’s plan to cap indirect expenses at 15 percent of direct research costs is on hold after a federal judge blocked the move amid a legal challenge.