Harvard slashing PhD programs + layoffs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$57 billion says it all and don’t pay property taxes. Harvard’s got a great gig.

How does destroying Harvard help anyone? And the funding is cut across the board not just from Harvard.

Asking a federal funded institution to stay apolitical and non-racist is NOT destroying them!!!

It is not a federally funded institution. institutions compete for research grants and are awarded research grants based on the science, not based on some political ideology you're trying to impose. Or at least that's the way it should be. When you remove that, it is destructive.

The research itself may not be political, but they use the freed up cash to political stuff and become entitled to it. So now they need to lose the entitlement and fund their own research.

Just stop. Your hate and envy for Harvard blinds you to the truth of what is really going on. Trump uses Harvard as the whipping boy to deflect what he is really doing because he knows he can distract people like you. Take off your blinders. Research funding has been removed from public, ad well as private universities, but you only hear about or pay attention to Harvard. Here is a list of the universities that have lost research grants and presumably are cutting staff. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/mapping-federal-funding-cuts-to-us-colleges-and-universities/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Exactly uplift our own citizens. How many American students get grants from China and India to study in their universities in science stem field. Probably could fit in a VW SUV because they won’t allow US cars into their closed markets. Enough!

I know for a fact China offers scholarships to Americans and other foreign nationals to study in their top universities.

As a scientist, I have been approached by China. I reported to my security manager as we have been trained to do. Have you heard of the 1000 talents program? It is entirely about poaching scientists.

China is the true existential threat to us now. Ukraine is a distraction; trump is temporary and a distraction.

We are at war again: a Cold War with China. But academia continually fails to acknowledge the truth.

Yep. VC are going to China now to invest money in startups. For starters, China leads in every measure of clean tech and there is no way for the west to catch up. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-09-22/what-venture-capitalists-learned-in-china-green-daily

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$57 billion says it all and don’t pay property taxes. Harvard’s got a great gig.

How does destroying Harvard help anyone? And the funding is cut across the board not just from Harvard.

Asking a federal funded institution to stay apolitical and non-racist is NOT destroying them!!!

It is not a federally funded institution. institutions compete for research grants and are awarded research grants based on the science, not based on some political ideology you're trying to impose. Or at least that's the way it should be. When you remove that, it is destructive.

The research itself may not be political, but they use the freed up cash to political stuff and become entitled to it. So now they need to lose the entitlement and fund their own research.

Just stop. Your hate and envy for Harvard blinds you to the truth of what is really going on. Trump uses Harvard as the whipping boy to deflect what he is really doing because he knows he can distract people like you. Take off your blinders. Research funding has been removed from public, ad well as private universities, but you only hear about or pay attention to Harvard. Here is a list of the universities that have lost research grants and presumably are cutting staff. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/mapping-federal-funding-cuts-to-us-colleges-and-universities/

Universities have been bloated in general because the government has been subsidizing their research. Time to make them leaner, be it Harvard or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$57 billion says it all and don’t pay property taxes. Harvard’s got a great gig.

How does destroying Harvard help anyone? And the funding is cut across the board not just from Harvard.

Asking a federal funded institution to stay apolitical and non-racist is NOT destroying them!!!

It is not a federally funded institution. institutions compete for research grants and are awarded research grants based on the science, not based on some political ideology you're trying to impose. Or at least that's the way it should be. When you remove that, it is destructive.

The research itself may not be political, but they use the freed up cash to political stuff and become entitled to it. So now they need to lose the entitlement and fund their own research.

Just stop. Your hate and envy for Harvard blinds you to the truth of what is really going on. Trump uses Harvard as the whipping boy to deflect what he is really doing because he knows he can distract people like you. Take off your blinders. Research funding has been removed from public, ad well as private universities, but you only hear about or pay attention to Harvard. Here is a list of the universities that have lost research grants and presumably are cutting staff. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/mapping-federal-funding-cuts-to-us-colleges-and-universities/

Universities have been bloated in general because the government has been subsidizing their research. Time to make them leaner, be it Harvard or not.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$57 billion says it all and don’t pay property taxes. Harvard’s got a great gig.

How does destroying Harvard help anyone? And the funding is cut across the board not just from Harvard.

Asking a federal funded institution to stay apolitical and non-racist is NOT destroying them!!!

It is not a federally funded institution. institutions compete for research grants and are awarded research grants based on the science, not based on some political ideology you're trying to impose. Or at least that's the way it should be. When you remove that, it is destructive.

The research itself may not be political, but they use the freed up cash to political stuff and become entitled to it. So now they need to lose the entitlement and fund their own research.

Just stop. Your hate and envy for Harvard blinds you to the truth of what is really going on. Trump uses Harvard as the whipping boy to deflect what he is really doing because he knows he can distract people like you. Take off your blinders. Research funding has been removed from public, ad well as private universities, but you only hear about or pay attention to Harvard. Here is a list of the universities that have lost research grants and presumably are cutting staff. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/mapping-federal-funding-cuts-to-us-colleges-and-universities/

Universities have been bloated in general because the government has been subsidizing their research. Time to make them leaner, be it Harvard or not.

By leaner you mean not training American PhD students in the sciences? Because that's what's happening. They're not cutting rock walls and food courts, but PhD student admissions because they can't afford to fund the programs without science funding. This isn't just Harvard but pretty much every research university in the country.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03417-6?fbclid=IwdGRjcANmrbZjbGNrA2atG2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEe2ErxgAk1PIqowVFBWavLxORAaqDJ3oVmngnn39ll9UxMjHi8Aanqhryr8LY_aem_q2tRwj_CflRfKY3Eah8dbA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$57 billion says it all and don’t pay property taxes. Harvard’s got a great gig.

How does destroying Harvard help anyone? And the funding is cut across the board not just from Harvard.

Asking a federal funded institution to stay apolitical and non-racist is NOT destroying them!!!

It is not a federally funded institution. institutions compete for research grants and are awarded research grants based on the science, not based on some political ideology you're trying to impose. Or at least that's the way it should be. When you remove that, it is destructive.

The research itself may not be political, but they use the freed up cash to political stuff and become entitled to it. So now they need to lose the entitlement and fund their own research.

Just stop. Your hate and envy for Harvard blinds you to the truth of what is really going on. Trump uses Harvard as the whipping boy to deflect what he is really doing because he knows he can distract people like you. Take off your blinders. Research funding has been removed from public, ad well as private universities, but you only hear about or pay attention to Harvard. Here is a list of the universities that have lost research grants and presumably are cutting staff. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/mapping-federal-funding-cuts-to-us-colleges-and-universities/

Universities have been bloated in general because the government has been subsidizing their research. Time to make them leaner, be it Harvard or not.

By leaner you mean not training American PhD students in the sciences? Because that's what's happening. They're not cutting rock walls and food courts, but PhD student admissions because they can't afford to fund the programs without science funding. This isn't just Harvard but pretty much every research university in the country.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03417-6?fbclid=IwdGRjcANmrbZjbGNrA2atG2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEe2ErxgAk1PIqowVFBWavLxORAaqDJ3oVmngnn39ll9UxMjHi8Aanqhryr8LY_aem_q2tRwj_CflRfKY3Eah8dbA

Exactly this.

There is always admin fluffs to cut, but we are cutting beyond that. I have family friends at universities, even at undergrad level who are working with mentorships and in labs, telling me they are feeling the reduction. It really is terrible what is happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$57 billion says it all and don’t pay property taxes. Harvard’s got a great gig.

How does destroying Harvard help anyone? And the funding is cut across the board not just from Harvard.

Asking a federal funded institution to stay apolitical and non-racist is NOT destroying them!!!

It is not a federally funded institution. institutions compete for research grants and are awarded research grants based on the science, not based on some political ideology you're trying to impose. Or at least that's the way it should be. When you remove that, it is destructive.

The research itself may not be political, but they use the freed up cash to political stuff and become entitled to it. So now they need to lose the entitlement and fund their own research.

Just stop. Your hate and envy for Harvard blinds you to the truth of what is really going on. Trump uses Harvard as the whipping boy to deflect what he is really doing because he knows he can distract people like you. Take off your blinders. Research funding has been removed from public, ad well as private universities, but you only hear about or pay attention to Harvard. Here is a list of the universities that have lost research grants and presumably are cutting staff. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/mapping-federal-funding-cuts-to-us-colleges-and-universities/

Universities have been bloated in general because the government has been subsidizing their research. Time to make them leaner, be it Harvard or not.

This. if you actually read the posted article only about a dozen Adminstrative support staff are being cut - hardly the “slashing” OP wants to scream about. Harvard overspends and needs to cut back. And rely less on federal money. And I say that as a Harvard grad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$57 billion says it all and don’t pay property taxes. Harvard’s got a great gig.

How does destroying Harvard help anyone? And the funding is cut across the board not just from Harvard.

Asking a federal funded institution to stay apolitical and non-racist is NOT destroying them!!!

It is not a federally funded institution. institutions compete for research grants and are awarded research grants based on the science, not based on some political ideology you're trying to impose. Or at least that's the way it should be. When you remove that, it is destructive.

The research itself may not be political, but they use the freed up cash to political stuff and become entitled to it. So now they need to lose the entitlement and fund their own research.

Just stop. Your hate and envy for Harvard blinds you to the truth of what is really going on. Trump uses Harvard as the whipping boy to deflect what he is really doing because he knows he can distract people like you. Take off your blinders. Research funding has been removed from public, ad well as private universities, but you only hear about or pay attention to Harvard. Here is a list of the universities that have lost research grants and presumably are cutting staff. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/mapping-federal-funding-cuts-to-us-colleges-and-universities/

Universities have been bloated in general because the government has been subsidizing their research. Time to make them leaner, be it Harvard or not.

This. if you actually read the posted article only about a dozen Adminstrative support staff are being cut - hardly the “slashing” OP wants to scream about. Harvard overspends and needs to cut back. And rely less on federal money. And I say that as a Harvard grad.

Read the Nature article two posts above. It talks about the huge cuts to PhD program admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$57 billion says it all and don’t pay property taxes. Harvard’s got a great gig.

How does destroying Harvard help anyone? And the funding is cut across the board not just from Harvard.

Asking a federal funded institution to stay apolitical and non-racist is NOT destroying them!!!

It is not a federally funded institution. institutions compete for research grants and are awarded research grants based on the science, not based on some political ideology you're trying to impose. Or at least that's the way it should be. When you remove that, it is destructive.

The research itself may not be political, but they use the freed up cash to political stuff and become entitled to it. So now they need to lose the entitlement and fund their own research.

Just stop. Your hate and envy for Harvard blinds you to the truth of what is really going on. Trump uses Harvard as the whipping boy to deflect what he is really doing because he knows he can distract people like you. Take off your blinders. Research funding has been removed from public, ad well as private universities, but you only hear about or pay attention to Harvard. Here is a list of the universities that have lost research grants and presumably are cutting staff. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/mapping-federal-funding-cuts-to-us-colleges-and-universities/

Universities have been bloated in general because the government has been subsidizing their research. Time to make them leaner, be it Harvard or not.

This. if you actually read the posted article only about a dozen Adminstrative support staff are being cut - hardly the “slashing” OP wants to scream about. Harvard overspends and needs to cut back. And rely less on federal money. And I say that as a Harvard grad.

You mean the sky ISN’T falling? This is bad news for the bullhorn & drum crowd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$57 billion says it all and don’t pay property taxes. Harvard’s got a great gig.

How does destroying Harvard help anyone? And the funding is cut across the board not just from Harvard.

Asking a federal funded institution to stay apolitical and non-racist is NOT destroying them!!!

It is not a federally funded institution. institutions compete for research grants and are awarded research grants based on the science, not based on some political ideology you're trying to impose. Or at least that's the way it should be. When you remove that, it is destructive.

The research itself may not be political, but they use the freed up cash to political stuff and become entitled to it. So now they need to lose the entitlement and fund their own research.

Just stop. Your hate and envy for Harvard blinds you to the truth of what is really going on. Trump uses Harvard as the whipping boy to deflect what he is really doing because he knows he can distract people like you. Take off your blinders. Research funding has been removed from public, ad well as private universities, but you only hear about or pay attention to Harvard. Here is a list of the universities that have lost research grants and presumably are cutting staff. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/mapping-federal-funding-cuts-to-us-colleges-and-universities/

Universities have been bloated in general because the government has been subsidizing their research. Time to make them leaner, be it Harvard or not.

This. if you actually read the posted article only about a dozen Adminstrative support staff are being cut - hardly the “slashing” OP wants to scream about. Harvard overspends and needs to cut back. And rely less on federal money. And I say that as a Harvard grad.

Except that's not what it says. Did you read this part:

[code]The Organismic and Evolutionary Biology department will shrink its class size by roughly 75 percent to three new Ph.D. students, according to two professors. Molecular and Cellular Biology will reduce its figure to four new students, and Chemistry and Chemical Biology will go down to four or five admits, one of the professors added.

Four or five Chemistry and Biochemistry admits is tiny. That would usually be >40 admits. Same with Biology. That's a huge reduction too. The programs are decimated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$57 billion says it all and don’t pay property taxes. Harvard’s got a great gig.

How does destroying Harvard help anyone? And the funding is cut across the board not just from Harvard.

Asking a federal funded institution to stay apolitical and non-racist is NOT destroying them!!!

It is not a federally funded institution. institutions compete for research grants and are awarded research grants based on the science, not based on some political ideology you're trying to impose. Or at least that's the way it should be. When you remove that, it is destructive.

The research itself may not be political, but they use the freed up cash to political stuff and become entitled to it. So now they need to lose the entitlement and fund their own research.

Just stop. Your hate and envy for Harvard blinds you to the truth of what is really going on. Trump uses Harvard as the whipping boy to deflect what he is really doing because he knows he can distract people like you. Take off your blinders. Research funding has been removed from public, ad well as private universities, but you only hear about or pay attention to Harvard. Here is a list of the universities that have lost research grants and presumably are cutting staff. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/mapping-federal-funding-cuts-to-us-colleges-and-universities/

Universities have been bloated in general because the government has been subsidizing their research. Time to make them leaner, be it Harvard or not.

This. if you actually read the posted article only about a dozen Adminstrative support staff are being cut - hardly the “slashing” OP wants to scream about. Harvard overspends and needs to cut back. And rely less on federal money. And I say that as a Harvard grad.

You mean the sky ISN’T falling? This is bad news for the bullhorn & drum crowd.

Yes it is. Read the article more carefully.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Focus on training US citizens and giving rural and city kids a chance. The US imports way too much foreign talent.

I agree in theory, but the US K-12 STEM curriculum is sh*t in most places. It is really hard/too late to correct for a poor foundation once the students are at the college and post-grad level, when you are talking about cutting edge research. That’s how you end up with school like Harvard having to add remedial math courses like pre-calculus to get some of their admits up to speed.

It’s not either/or. We need to get our students better trained and we need to continue to attract the best from other countries. It’s what makes us powerful.

That will never happen in a million years. You need solid family support for this kind of education which is lacking in US. Most students are dealing with non-academic stuff. The only option to get high achieveing American students are to have more naturalized Americans from Asian countries. Their kids (Asian-Americans) are killing it here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess it's not limited to schools like Chicago that are in financial crisis. What's Harvard's excuse? They are literally sitting on billions.
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/10/21/fas-phd-admissions-cuts/
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/10/21/seas-layoffs-student-advisors/

a non issue for most Americans.

maybe Harvard could stop unleashing soulless MBAs on the rest of us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Focus on training US citizens and giving rural and city kids a chance. The US imports way too much foreign talent.

I agree in theory, but the US K-12 STEM curriculum is sh*t in most places. It is really hard/too late to correct for a poor foundation once the students are at the college and post-grad level, when you are talking about cutting edge research. That’s how you end up with school like Harvard having to add remedial math courses like pre-calculus to get some of their admits up to speed.

It’s not either/or. We need to get our students better trained and we need to continue to attract the best from other countries. It’s what makes us powerful.

That will never happen in a million years. You need solid family support for this kind of education which is lacking in US. Most students are dealing with non-academic stuff. The only option to get high achieveing American students are to have more naturalized Americans from Asian countries. Their kids (Asian-Americans) are killing it here.

Universities contribute to economic growth and national competitiveness by equipping students with higher-order thinking and academic skills. Despite large investments in university science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, little is known about how the skills of STEM undergraduates compare across countries and by institutional selectivity.

Here, we provide direct evidence on these issues by collecting and analysing longitudinal data on tens of thousands of computer science and electrical engineering students in China, India, Russia and the United States. We find stark differences in skill levels and gains among countries and by institutional selectivity.

Compared with the United States, students in China, India and Russia do not gain critical thinking skills over four years.

Furthermore, while students in India and Russia gain academic skills during the first two years, students in China do not.

These gaps in skill levels and gains provide insights into the global competitiveness of STEM university students across nations and institutional types.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349707487_Skill_levels_and_gains_in_university_STEM_education_in_China_India_Russia_and_the_United_States

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Focus on training US citizens and giving rural and city kids a chance. The US imports way too much foreign talent.

I agree in theory, but the US K-12 STEM curriculum is sh*t in most places. It is really hard/too late to correct for a poor foundation once the students are at the college and post-grad level, when you are talking about cutting edge research. That’s how you end up with school like Harvard having to add remedial math courses like pre-calculus to get some of their admits up to speed.

It’s not either/or. We need to get our students better trained and we need to continue to attract the best from other countries. It’s what makes us powerful.

We have lots of American students who could get a science PhD. Most just choose not to because it's really really hard work, takes a really really long time and has very uncertain and not well compensated career prospects. It's way easier to go work in consulting or for an investment bank than to spend 6 years making 40k/year during your PhD, then two 2-year post doc making $78k, only to fight for a possible faculty job in your 30s. All of those years as a graduate student and post docs years you're grinding it out with 80+ hour work weeks, going into the lab 7 days a week. If you don't get a faculty job, you have to try to find an industry job and those prospects really depend on your specialization. Many end up working at Starbucks. American students have other options.