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Dive Snapshot:
Johns Hopkins University has laid off about 110 employees in response to federal research spending cuts, a spokesperson confirmed Friday.
The cuts came largely in administrative roles at the private university in Baltimore. They follow budget-savings efforts rolled out last year that were meant to head off layoffs as much as possible, according to the spokesperson’s email.
Johns Hopkins’ federal research grants dropped by about half a billion dollars last year, and “these downward trends have continued unabated” into 2026, President Ron Daniels said in a public message earlier this month.
Higher Ed Impact: Johns Hopkins as well as many other private and public universities have been cutting their workforces as they adapt to a more austere, less predictable federal funding policy climate. “As our federal research portfolio shrinks, the infrastructure around it must change in parallel,” the Johns Hopkins spokesperson said.
Along with the workforce cuts, Johns Hopkins plans to cut 10% from its administrative budget and make its research operations more cost-efficient through technology and by reducing duplication and fragmentation, according to Daniels’ June 3 message.
Additionally, the university is looking to find ways to save on rising benefits costs and diversify its revenue, including through corporate research partnerships and new academic offerings.
The university remains financially strong. In fiscal 2025, Johns Hopkins posted an operating surplus of $491.6 million and total surplus of $2.2 billion.
The Context: As a major research university, Johns Hopkins has taken heavy losses from Trump administration efforts to disrupt, cut and reengineer federal research funding. Last March, the university announced layoffs of 2,200 workers, most of them based internationally, in direct response to the administration’s unilateral decimation of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
During 2025, Johns Hopkins also instituted more general budget austerity measures, including a hiring freeze, an elimination of vacant jobs, a freeze on raises for employees making over $80,000 a year, and a capital spending slowdown. “These efforts ensured that employment actions would be a last resort,” the spokesperson said Friday.
By the numbers
43%
The annual decline in federal research funding at Johns Hopkins in the 2025 calendar year.
$60 million
The annual funding to be distributed by the university’s own Research Resilience Fund over the next two years. The fund supports researchers facing federal disruptions.
$5.1 billion
Johns Hopkins’ total sponsored research revenue for fiscal 2025. That’s up 5.4% from the prior year but likely does not reflect the full extent of research cuts through calendar year 2025.
Quote: “Colleagues have expressed confusion, uncertainty, and frustration with the pace and character of decisions from federal granting agencies, especially in the natural and life sciences. Though our colleagues continue to submit strong research proposals, the sluggish or stalled pace of awards is debilitating.” — Ron Daniels, Johns Hopkins president.
What we’re watching: Uncertainty reigns throughout much of the higher education landscape. Many universities are making proactive cuts now in hopes that they can avoid even deeper budget pain later. Given Johns Hopkins’ strong financial condition, it may be in the same boat. Whether it will cut more likely depends on whether federal funding stabilizes, along with myriad other unknowns.
