DePaul University has laid off 114 staff members to help plug its budget deficit, school officials announced Monday.
The reduction accounts for 7.6% of full-time and part-time staff, according to a message from President Rob Manuel. The university is aiming to reduce $27.4 million in spending following a dramatic drop in international enrollment.
“Supporting our students and providing an excellent education remain our top priority,” Manuel wrote. “We want to emphasize that university leaders worked to minimize cuts to the student experience, including on-campus employment.”
DePaul is facing a $12.6 million budget deficit for the 2026 fiscal year. To maintain long-term sustainability, the university is also aiming for a 2.5% operating margin — which means another $14.8 million in cuts.
Every area across the university will be affected by staff and operational cuts, DePaul said.
About $11.4 million in savings will come from eliminating merit raises, a hiring freeze, reducing 403(b) contributions and executive pay cuts. The remaining $16 million in cuts will come from the layoffs and other operating expense reductions.
Manuel called recent weeks “some of the most difficult our community has ever experienced.” Impacted staff will be provided with severance packages, he said.
DePaul announced in October that there are 755 fewer international students enrolled compared with last fall. The drop was even steeper for first-year international graduate student enrollment, which declined by nearly 62%.
Increased vetting, travel bans and a temporary pause in visa interviews under President Donald Trump has created a maze of obstacles for foreign students. International enrollment declined at nearly two dozen universities across the state, a Tribune analysis found.
Other factors are squeezing DePaul’s budget. Student financial aid is expected to cost the university roughly $7 million above budgeted levels. Higher health care costs are also adding strain — overall benefit costs have grown by $23 million over the past five years, the university previously said.
Continuing undergraduate enrollment has also dropped by roughly 300 students.
“During these pivotal times for higher education, we can all find strength in those shared acts of compassion and service that define our community,” Manuel said.
A spokesperson added that DePaul is launching a new strategic plan to create alternative revenue streams and “build a resilient and mission-aligned future.”
Other Chicago universities have struggled amid demographic shifts and federal funding cuts. Northwestern University, which faced a $790 million federal funding freeze, eliminated 425 staff positions in July. The University of Chicago announced spending and hiring reductions in August to alleviate its structural deficit.
Columbia College Chicago also laid off 20 faculty members in June, seeking to close a $40 million shortfall.
