Schools most harmed and those most benefiting once NIH, DHS funding resumes?

[Anonymous]

I'd not bet on the sciences, Trump seems to think they are nothing but a woke agenda and is slashing them to smithereens.


https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/02/white-house-budget-proposal-could-shatter-the-national-science-foundation/

[Anonymous]

The Wuhan Institute of Virology is going to be severely impacted in terms of US taxpayers funding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a research scientist and yes! Tell her to choose a well-funded lab to weather the storm for her PhD (HHMI funding would be ideal). We still need a pipeline of young scientists and science as a whole is not going to die, just shrink for a while. She can go to Europe or Canada if all hell really does break loose.

Thanks! We had discussed that for years and if she manages to get hers here, she will likely depart if possible, depending on how this plays out. She said there’s research showing every 3 mo delay leads to a 40% decline in numbers of scientists in 5 yrs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a research scientist and yes! Tell her to choose a well-funded lab to weather the storm for her PhD (HHMI funding would be ideal). We still need a pipeline of young scientists and science as a whole is not going to die, just shrink for a while. She can go to Europe or Canada if all hell really does break loose.

Thanks! We had discussed that for years and if she manages to get hers here, she will likely depart if possible, depending on how this plays out. She said there’s research showing every 3 mo delay leads to a 40% decline in numbers of scientists in 5 yrs.

Yikes. 😭

[Anonymous]

Federal funding accounts for 55% of university research expenditures. At John's Hopkins, it is 87%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So can someone please explain the IMPACT this will have on T-100 colleges and universities in the short-term (2025-2030)?

Assuming a sharp and massive decrease in federal funding per Musk/Project 2025:

- What will change on the ground at these schools in the next year, in the next five years? How exactly will it affect applicants and undergraduate students?

- Which schools (or types of schools) are likely to be the relative “winners,” and who are likely to be the relative “losers”?

(Assume I have no personal experience with either federally-funded research or college/university budgets. Because I don’t. 😂 But I do have kids applying to college in 2026 and 2029 and am having trouble getting my head around the short-term implications for them.

Thanks!

I’m a big proponent of flagship state universities, but I think LACs with large endowments are best able to weather this. It will impact faculty ranks as a lot of T1 professors are partially funded by grants and affect PHD programs as there’s less funding for research. Yes, the OP is right that fundamental science has better prospects, but a lot of it still touches things his admin doesn’t believe in.

Agree. Public schools sand R1 Universities will be the hardest hit. There are so few tenured professors as it is, and without federal funding a lot of them are going to be scrambling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To state it simply, all universities and research institutions will be negatively impacted by this anti-science approach.

Nobody benefits from a world view that values dogma over discovery.

I absolutely agree, of course. This is 100% destructive and terrible.

Maybe because we feels so powerless at the moment, we’re trying to figure out if there’s anything we can or should “do” to reframe our DC’s college research process re 2026.

At the moment, DC is looking at a mix of public flagships and mid-sized privates. Should we be looking at the schools’ financials - endowments, dependence on federal funding etc - to try to identify those that may weather the storm better than others? Or is that like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?

Absolutely. Forbes has a list of the financial ratings of each college. Cross reference that with NSF, NIH, and other departments. For example, NIH is here:

https://report.nih.gov/funding/categorical-spending#/

Each school will list their total federal funding through research, through all modalities. Some competitive grants, others non-competitive.

This is an earthquake followed by a Tsunami.

You also can search the amount of federal funding and compare it to total budget. The more a school's budget has relied on federal funding in the past as a percentage of revenue, the more the will need to scramble to make up those funds elsewhere if it goes away. Land grant and agricultural colleges may be hard hit as they typically rely heavily on federal funding.


https://ncses.nsf.gov/surveys/higher-education-research-development/2022#data [note that these are total grants, many of which are spered out over years ] Most of the Top 20 schools are high on this list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Wuhan Institute of Virology is going to be severely impacted in terms of US taxpayers funding.

Oh do you think you will lose your job?

[Anonymous]

The new administration sees higher ed as the enemy, they have not hidden their intent to decimate it at all. It’s not just the funding institutions will lose in research grants, it’s also the nosedive enrollment is going to take when there is no longer any financial aid available. Not sure what to advise - maybe trade school?

[Anonymous]

So it begins.

NIH lowers allowable indirect costs from 60% to 15%.

Seismic.

Indirect costs pay for the building maintenance, admin salaries, utilities, etc.

Johns Hopkins going to get slaughtered.

[Anonymous]

UChicago is so so so screwed.

[Anonymous]

My theory is that the tech oligarchs see where AI is taking us and by tearing down the govt and science, they can cull the population to avoid paying universal basic income. Ultimately money will beat Christian Nationalism and they will retreat to their bunkers til the worst is past. They’ve plan for this over 20 years now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My theory is that the tech oligarchs see where AI is taking us and by tearing down the govt and science, they can cull the population to avoid paying universal basic income. Ultimately money will beat Christian Nationalism and they will retreat to their bunkers til the worst is past. They’ve plan for this over 20 years now.

Good grief. Do you even hear yourself?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:STEM research is going to be encouraged.

Make no mistake, universities are dependent on federal research dollars.

University of Virginia's has a high percentage of soft science research.

If people think USAID was cataclysmic, wait until NIH grants are awarded under the new administration.

I know that those who put in applications for being on peer review committees are being told that their applications aren't even going to be looked at.

STEM focused schools will be less damaged.

This will kill of research at most R1 centers

https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-25-068.html

[Anonymous]

Hard to understand how red state house and senate members will stand for this, but I guess the dumb will get dumber.