New School Lays Off 90 Faculty and Staff Amid $160M Deficit
The New School in Manhattan has made significant staffing cuts, eliminating 19 full-time faculty and 68 staff positions to address a budget deficit of $160 million caused by the pandemic and declining enrollment. Currently, the school's student count has plummeted to 8,900, marking a 20% drop since 2021. This reflects a reduction of about 6% in its workforce. President Joel Towers described these layoffs as part of a necessary institutional redesign, which has been criticized by AAUP President Todd Wolfson as "catastrophic." The humanities programs face challenges, as the Parsons School of Design and Mannes School of Music are now catering to the majority of students.
Key facts
- The New School laid off 19 full-time faculty and 68 staff members.
- The school faces a $160 million budget deficit due to COVID-19 and declining enrollment.
- Enrollment has dropped 20% since 2021, with a record low of 8,900 students this fall.
- All 19 laid-off faculty were in the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts and the New School for Social Research.
- AAUP President Todd Wolfson called the cuts 'catastrophic' and a 'profound betrayal.'
- The New School has lost 65 full-time professors since last year.
- Parsons School of Design, Mannes School of Music, and jazz/drama departments will now teach 80% of students.
- The Trump administration is considering guidelines that could restrict federal loans for low-earning graduate arts programs.
Entities
Artists
- Jeremy Varon
- Sanjay Reddy
- Joseph Stiglitz
- Todd Wolfson
- Judith Friedlander
- Hannah Arendt
- Donald Trump
- Andy Beshear
Institutions
- The New School
- Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts
- New School for Social Research
- American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
- Parsons School of Design
- Mannes School of Music
- Chronicle of Higher Education
- New School Free Press
- Hyperallergic
- New York Times
- Harvard University
- Columbia University
- University of Virginia
- Texas Tech University
- Kentucky General Assembly
- Dissent Magazine
Locations
- Manhattan
- New York City
- United States
- Massachusetts
- Florida
- Kentucky