Graduate Admissions Changes Amid Funding Pauses and NIH Influence
Table of Contents
- Overview
- Institution Reductions (Verified Reports)
- Unverified Reports
- Freeze or Chill Timeline
- Personal Narratives and Reactions
- Notes and Citations
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Overview
This list is meant to identify changes in graduate admissions following funding pauses and executive orders, particularly in regards to the NIH. If your institutions have pauses or reductions for other reasons, they don't need to be added We are also working together to collect impacts here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyFQdsjogbtTxrFDOQu5DI1UpLy1MrgSva5fe-mGl8-qZ1tQ/viewform
Those listed as verified have been verified either through articles or through personal communication with receipts. If you would like to verify a post, please DM me at cbibberson.bsky.social @cbibberson.bsky.social Note that we are doing our best to curate/make the information as accurate as possible, but information is moving fast and sources can be incomplete. If you see errors or have newer information, please, comment, or modify (with links/receipts if possible) Note that we are doing our best to curate/make the information as accurate as possible, but information is moving fast and sources can be incomplete. If you see errors or have newer information, please, comment, or modify (with links/receipts if possible)
Institution Program Reduction (%) Supporting Information (links, email screenshots, etc) Comments Verification State Comments/Notes VERIFIED
Institution Program Reduction (%) Supporting Information (links, email screenshots, etc) Comments Verification State Comments/Notes VERIFIED
Baylor College of Medicine ~20% reduction; Outstanding offers rescinded https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/health/article/baylor-medical-school-nih-funding-cuts-20194299.php ; Email verified TX
Boston College Counseling Psychology 20% (Accepting only 4 students instead of usual 5 for 2025 cohort) This was verified by the Director of Clinical Training during orientation for applicants on interview day MA
Boston University BME 15% Word of mouth- Verified, direct communication with faculty member MA
Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Pause Word of mouth - Verified email
Cornell University Applied & Engineering Physics
Reserves right to withdraw or rescind our offer of admission if we determine that we cannot provide adequate financial support Verified email communication
Dartmouth Molecular and Cell Biology 20% word of mouth; confirmed by admissions committee
Duke University Biomedical PhD Programs ~23% (130 to 100) https://apnews.com/article/trump-cuts-research-funding-nih-duke-7f24b33bbad54490583520536ab40e0c Eintein College of Medicine Division of Biomedical Sciences Deferred acceptances (to Fall 2026) Verified email communication
Harvard University College of Arts and Sciences waitlist denied admission https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/3/12/gsas-waitlist-rejections/ Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (incl. BME and Neuroscience, among others) 25% Personal communication- confirmed by faculty member
Johns Hopkins University Biomedical Engineering 33 Personal communication- confirmed by faculty member
MD MIT Biology 20% https://thetech.com/2025/03/06/biology-grad-admissions-reduced#:~:text=The%20MIT%20Department%20of%20Biology,PhD%20class%20size%20by%2020%25. MA
North Carolina State University Microbiology ~50% Personal communication -- due primarily to conservative budgeting with expectation of less funding NC
Northwestern University Neuroscience (NUIN) & Political Science Rescind outstanding offers https://dailynorthwestern.com/2025/04/02/top-stories/northwestern-directs- some-graduate-programs-to-cap-class-sizes-defer-enrollments/ UCSC ~9% https://lookout.co/ucsc-looks-to-cut-grad-student-admissions-alter-funding-guarantee/story UCSD Biological Sciences (rotation program) 30% Program leadership; https://bsky.app/profile/ucsdcooperlab.bsky.social/post/3liuc4lhp4225 CA UCSD All Reduction (up to 50%) Graduate student admissions paused and cut back as universities react to Trump orders on research WA the StatNews article for campus wide is based on one department head's report about other department heads they've talked to. It's not clear tha they've talked to people outside of public health? Is there a campus wide announcement of this? Marion Pepper, chair of UW’s immunology department, said she was instructed by university leadership to keep her program’s next graduate cohort smaller than the usual five to nine students admitted each year. Pepper told STAT that while she expects the incoming class to be slightly smaller than normal, she has spoken with program heads at UW and elsewhere who are reducing class sizes by half or more
UCSF Biomedical Sciences 30% or so reduction Comparing total accepted students this year vs last
University of Chicago Microbiology & CMB Chill (for now) Word of mouth: Microbio is having a meeting this Wednesday after their two interview weekends, thus far it seems nothing has changed but things might change after that meeting. CMB has not said anything and proceeded with all interviews as planned. Will update on Wed
UMass Amherst All programs Pause & reduction on admissions word of mouth; email to applicants
University of Illinois Chicago University wide hiring chill Deptl email IL
Spoke with faculty during an interview for their GEMS PhD program -- one professor said they've halted hiring, however I know a different prospect who has been extended an acceptance despite this supposed halt.
University of Maryland Program in Biology, Ecology, Evolution & Behavior ~50% dept email, can second from information at recruitment event. Thirded, and this applies more broadly to the Biological Sciences program, not exclusive to BEES. A state funding cut is also exacerbating the problem (current student, via dept wide email and also convos with the director) MD
University of Maryland Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Unclear, but likely a very small cohort (~50% cut) Word of mouth from grads and faculty
Program is a combination of departments, so restrictions on those departments also affect us. As noted in other UMD entries, we are also facing a state-level budget crisis that is affecting funding. The two major departments, Biology and Psychology, are telling faculty that they cannot admit students who would have to be supported by TA funds (this is probably tied to the state stuff rather than NIH) and would have to support any admits for the 5 years of guaranteed funding on grant funds. However because of NIH cuts/restrictions it's likely that faculty won't be able to guarantee this either. Psychology is not allowing recruitment at all unless the faculty doesn't currently have grad students. MD
University of Maryland Psychology Small cohort as insurance against looming federal and state reductions Dept email MD
University of Minnesota School of Public Health Health Policy and Management Division 100% Word of mouth that the division is not admitting any PhD students for the upcoming year MN
University of New Mexico School of Medicine Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program (BSGP) Down 35% (15/23) Personal communication lost the IMSD grant that funded 15 students/yr
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program (BBSP) 25%, delaying offers Word of mouth Conflicting reports NC
University of Virginia Biomedical Sciences Grad Program ~20% reduction Communications from relevant deans to admissions committee VA
University of Washington Political Science Up to 50% The Political Science department had already chosen to reduce its cohort size. They are aiming for a class of 5 instead of their typical 8-10. This was communicated during interviews with prospective and admitted students. WA
University of Washington Bioengineering 25% reduction, complete faculty hiring freeze Word of mouth from current faculty; Indication that reduction of up to 50%
USC About 6 of 10 decrease in one USC program. About 25% decrease at a UNC Chapel Hill Wash Post, Feb 22, available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20250224161553/https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025/02/22/trump-research-nih-federal-register/
Virginia Tech Biological Sciences Commitment to at least five years of funding may be impacted by availability of funds VA
Washington University in St. Louis School of Arts & Sciences, not all programs Pause Personal communications from administrators, no official announcement MO
Yale University Biomedical Engineering (BME) 50% reduction Personal communication
Drexel University All programs paused admissions word of mouth
Emory University BME direct admit email to applicants
Iowa State University some offers rescinded https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/03/07/iowa-state-university-rescinds-some-admission-offers-for-graduate-students/
MIT Biological Engineering 50% word of mouth; discussion with program leadership
MIT Mechanical Engineering 30% Word of mouth
Michigan State University Computer Science
Only accepting PhD students who have funding (either fellowship or advisor has an RA for them and also is supporting all of their current students as RAs) Personal communication
NYU MD/PhD Pause
Rescinding of this year's MD/PhD acceptances (only MD admissions offered for now) (this happened before Trump came into office - I believe first week of Jan) told by multiple sources this is unrelated to the current chaos
Oregon State University University wide be intentional re graduate employee positions Research Office email - Departmental programs likely vary
UCSD Neuroscience PhD 50% reduction UCSD Bioinformatics and Systems Biology reduced cohort dept email asking if faculty could commit to direct admits and pay students directly. CA
UCSD All Reduction (up to 50%) Graduate student admissions paused and cut back as universities react to Trump orders on research WANote early in this list that this is a decentralized process and decisions and modifications in graduate admissions are being made on an individual college or department basis. In a memo to deans obtained by 27 News, Provost Charles Isbell Jr and graduate school dean William Karpus said other peer institutions have decided to slow or pause their graduate student admission process.
State verifications and additional notes
- The above entries include verified links, emails and personal communications where available. Some lines are based on word of mouth or campus communications that have not been publicly published, and thus require receipts or direct confirmations to be considered verified.
- Location abbreviations reflect the state or country of the institution where applicable. When a state is not applicable, the entry may show national or unspecified location.
- Several entries reference media coverage about NIH funding and federal policy changes that influence graduate admissions across multiple universities.
Unverified Reports
UNVERIFIED (Please add links or send verification) Cornell University Rescind outstanding offers citing programs have already filled word of mouth
Drexel University All programs paused admissions word of mouth
Emory University BME direct admit email to applicants
Iowa State University some offers rescinded https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/03/07/iowa-state-university-rescinds-some-admission-offers-for-graduate-students/
MIT Biology program has reportedly reduced class size by 50% but exact figures vary across departments
NYU Pause on MD PhD program admissions reported, with MD admissions continuing in some cases
Oregon State University reportedly be intentional in graduate employee positions with varying departmental practices
University of California Berkeley entries not fully verified at this time
University of Chicago Official statements pending on reductions in neuroscience and microbiology tracks
University of Michigan MD/PhD programs paused or rescinding offers in some tracks
University of Texas Health San Antonio IBMS program 25% reduction reported but unconfirmed across the school
University of Pennsylvania Reports of reductions in some SAS and Med programs with potential for 60 percent reduction in class sizes; formal notices vary by school
University of Virginia and other Virginia institutions reporting reductions in graduate programs, with state funding changes contributing to uncertainty
University of Washington Chemical and other departments noting reductions; separate announcements in WA state indicate broader freeze patterns
University of Wisconsin Madison All reductions/pause reported in multiple departments; campus-wide uncertainty persists
Freeze or Chill Timeline
Institution Freeze or Chill? Date went in effect Supporting Information Verified Comments Faculty Staff Other
Allen Institute chill
Boston University Freeze 2/13 Boston University, MIT tighten budgets as they brace for federal funding cuts | GBH Y Yes Yes Yes
Boston University Chill 2/12 internal memo All positions require approval; faculty hiring not frozen
Brown University Freeze 3/13 https://turnto10.com/news/local/brown-university-announces-hiring-freeze Y The university has announced a campus-wide hiring freeze
Case Western Reserve University Freeze 2/26 https://observer.case.edu/cwru-freezes-staff-hiring-amid-federal-research-funding-cuts/ Y
Colorado State University Chill 3/11 https://federalupdates.colostate.edu/march-11-maintaining-csus-fiscal-health/ Y The university is implementing a temporary chill on hiring
Columbia School of Medicine Freeze 2/11 Columbia’s medical school pauses spending and hiring amid NIH cuts Y Yes Yes Yes
Cornell University Freeze 2/27 https://hr.cornell.edu/2025-hiring-pause Y
Drexel University Chill 2/6 Email -- no tenure-track positions offered with tenure
Duke University Freeze 3/12 https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2025/03/duke-university-cost-cutting-measures-threats-federal-funded-trump-administration... Y The administrators announced a cost-reduction plan including a hiring freeze
Emory University Freeze 3/5 https://news.emory.edu/stories/2025/01/er_federal_government_directives_28-01-2025/story.html Y Freeze on staff hiring, limits on faculty hiring
George Washington University Chill (Position Review Process) 2/24 Email to staff Unknown
Georgia Tech College of Computing Freeze 2/26 Email to staff Y Restrict faculty and staff hiring in FY 25 and 26 to start dates in July 2026 or later
Georgetown University Freeze http://thehoya.com/news/developing-gu-budget-reductions-include-hiring-freeze-spending-cuts/ Y
Harvard University Freeze 3/10 https://www.harvard.edu/president/news/2025/financial-stewardship/ Y Pause on staff and faculty hiring across the University
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Freeze
MIT Freeze (non-faculty) 2/13 Boston University, MIT tighten budgets as they brace for federal funding cuts | GBH Y
North Carolina State Freeze 2/14 N.C. State freezes hiring over budget uncertainties Y
North Carolina State University Freeze 2/14 NC State hiring freeze: Faculty, staff positions on hold amid federal budget uncertainty Y
Northwestern University Freeze 2/19 Federal funding uncertainty prompts hiring freezes Y
Notre Dame Freeze 3/7 Email to staff and faculty; https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/news/education/2025/03/07/notre-dame-announces-hiring-freeze-concerned-about-grant-cancellations/81988978007/ Y
NYU Freeze 3/17 https://nyunews.com/news/2025/03/19/nyu-hiring-freeze/ Y The university placed an immediate hold on hiring
Princeton University Freeze 3/19 https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2025/03/princeton-news-adpol-princeton-freezes-faculty-staff-hiring-trump-administration Y Princeton will freeze most faculty and staff hiring
Stanford University Freeze (does not apply to faculty, contingent employees, postdocs, student workers) 2/26 https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/02/staff-hiring Y The freeze on staff hiring is in effect; exceptions for fully funded externally sponsored research
UC System Wide Freeze 3/19 https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/employee-news/president-drake-on-the-university-of-california-financial-outlook/ Y
University of Colorado Anschutz Chill 3/27 Email to staff; Hiring chill
University of Illinois at Chicago Chill 2/21 New guidelines to support financial stability | UIC today Y
University of Louisville Freeze 2/21 University of Louisville announces 5-month hiring freeze amid volatility in federal funding Y
University of Maryland School of Medicine Freeze 2/10 Email to staff ; Freeze lifted 3/27 in Dept of Neurology Approx 2/10, Paperwork can proceed if offers made prior to freeze; 3/25 Freeze Lifted in Dept. of Neurology
UMass Chan Medical School Freeze 3/11 Email to staff ; https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/03/12/umass-medical-school-hiring-spending-freeze Y Freeze on all hiring including faculty, grant funded positions, and summer internships
University of Michigan Chill 2/26 https://record.umich.edu/articles/federal-funding-changes-prompt-proactive-measures-at-u-m/ Y
University of Nebraska Freeze 3/5 https://chancellor.unl.edu/message-chancellor-budget-reductions/ Y We are extending hiring freeze and reducing budget by 5 million
University of North Carolina Chill? 2/18 Email to staff from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research Y Institution-wide pause on HR actions; internal review planned Unknown
University of Northern Colorado Freeze 2/10 https://www.unco.edu/bear-news/stories/021025.aspx Y
University of Pennsylvania Freeze 3/10 https://www.thedp.com/article/2025/03/penn-hiring-freeze-cut-spending-federal-funding-uncertainty Y Freeze on staff hiring; certain faculty searches continue; waivers restricted
University of Pittsburgh Freeze 3/10 https://www.utimes.pitt.edu/news/pitt-institutes-hiring Y Faculty and staff hiring freeze in place through end of fiscal year
University of Vermont Freeze 3/4 https://www.uvm.edu/human-resources/news/university-hiring-pause Y 60 day freeze on hiring of faculty, staff, and postdocs
University of Virginia Chill 3/25 Email on Reddit Y
University of Washington Freeze 3/19 https://www.washington.edu/provost/2025/03/09/working-together-to-address-the-financial-risks-facing-our-university/ ; https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/university-of-washington-braces-for-federal-state-budget-cuts/ Y The University of Washington will freeze hiring of non essential staff and faculty and take other steps to cut costs amid uncertainty about state and federal funding
Wellesley College Freeze 4/11 https://www.wellesley.edu/news/temporary-hiring-pause Y
Month # Freezes/Chills February 18 March 16Putting this here to give people a space to vent. This is a stressful time for all of us <3
Note on forum discussions and personal messages
The following sections include user posts, discussions and reactions from various platforms. These reflect the sentiment and experiences of individuals during the period of funding uncertainty. The posts describe decreasing opportunities, shifts in decision timelines, and emotional responses to the changing admissions landscape. They are included here to document the social and psychological impact in addition to the institutional data.
Personal Narratives and Reactions
The funding well is drying up, and we’re all feeling it. Labs are losing grants, positions are disappearing, and the bottleneck to graduate school just got even tighter. Fewer funded projects mean fewer spots for incoming students—fewer chances to step into the work we’ve spent years preparing for. This isn’t just an obstacle—it’s an all-out chokehold on the future of scientific discovery.
This was my 3rd and final_FINAL round of applying and the closest I have got to my ideal position. I was definitely in the top 2 after on site and now I am not even sure whether the position exists anymore. Competition for biotech jobs is going to be even tighter with all the layoffs too, I hate this.
Anxiously checking this spreadsheet every hour to see if the schools I’ve applied to are on here ...
This entire process has made me want to fling myself off a bridge. I’ve sacrificed so much to pursue graduate-level research in the field of science and institution ... I am not sure I’m ready to give up on my big dream yet. Best of luck to everyone.
I decided I wanted to be a neuroscientist when I was 18, I organized every decision I made around that goal, where I went to college, moving for grad school and postdoc. Things feel senseless and bleak, and I can see that the public is not aware of what is really happening, and that we have to stand up for science!
Hi everyone, first of all, I am sorry that this is happening to you all. I am an MA journalism student at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. I am working on a short documentary about this situation. If anyone has had an experience they would like to share, please email me or respond to this post.
Graduate student admissions paused and cut back as universities react to Trump orders on research. REUs are being cancelled. Several posts on Reddit and Bluesky. Major impact on undergrads.
Notes and Citations
- This document aggregates information from public announcements, media coverage, personal communications and forum discussions. Verification status is indicated where possible via direct links or receipts. In some cases, statements reflect ongoing discussions or institutional responses that may evolve rapidly.
- For any data points marked verified, please refer to the linked sources or direct communications referenced in the Supporting Information field. If you have updated receipts, provide them to improve the accuracy of this dataset.
- The list is not exhaustive and is intended to capture notable admissions shifts attributable to funding pauses and NIH-related policy guidance. Institutions may respond differently based on program area, departmental budgets and funding streams.
Conclusion
This document captures a snapshot of the ongoing shifts in graduate admissions linked to funding pauses and federal policy changes affecting NIH funding. Stakeholders are encouraged to verify information with primary sources and share updates with receipts. The situation is dynamic and subject to rapid change as federal and state funding and institutional policies evolve.
Appendix: Data handling and methodology
- Data collection methods include direct communications with program directors, admissions committees, and faculty; public news articles; and verified posts with receipts when available.
- Where possible, percentage reductions were derived from official announcements, emails to applicants, or institutional statements. In cases of ambiguity, notes indicate the basis as word of mouth or personal communication.
- The dataset is intended for informational and research purposes and should not be construed as an official policy statement from any institution.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to community contributors and institutional staff who provided receipts, emails and links to verify changes in graduate admissions during this period. Your documentation helps preserve a record of the impact of funding pauses on graduate education.