Drexel lays off 60 employees as it continues to address a budget crunch

Drexel University this month laid off 60 professional staff employees as it continues to address a budget crunch, the school said Tuesday. The 60 employees represent less than 1.4% of the school’s workforce.

The university did not provide a breakdown of which departments the employees worked in, and a spokesperson said no further information would be provided. No faculty are affected by the layoffs, and no more layoffs are expected this calendar year, the spokesperson said.

“The decision to lay off members of our professional staff is never made lightly,” the school said in a statement. “This is part of Drexel’s plan for resolving an approximate 10% imbalance in its operating budget in order to ensure resilience amid financial headwinds facing the higher-education sector.”

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In addition, about 155 employees, or 3.6% of the workforce, have opted for a voluntary retirement incentive program that was offered, the school said.

Drexel, which operates on a $1.5 billion budget, said in October that it planned to cut and freeze some salaries, slash benefits, and implement a reduction in the workforce to deal with a $63 million operating loss and 15% fewer first-year students this fall, which cost the school about $22 million. The university also said then that it was aiming to come up with $150 million through cuts and revenue increases to regain a positive operating margin by 2027. At that time it already had identified $80 million in cuts and $25 million in increased revenue.

» READ MORE: Drexel is cutting staff and benefits as it faces a $63 million operating loss and 15% fewer first-year students

In its announcement last month, Drexel cited several factors leading to the deficit, including: a $40 million drop in net tuition revenue, room, and board over the last decade; a $150 million investment in financial aid; $10 million for student advising and counseling; and $25 million for cybersecurity, public safety, and other areas.

The school said it also was affected by ongoing problems with the federal financial aid system, which might have contributed to a decline in first-year students nationally.

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In September, Drexel asked several deans to step down as part of a consolidation of two colleges and one of its schools into a new entity. It’s part of a larger academic restructuring, which also includes plans to move from a quarter system to a semester system over the next few years.

Drexel said it would provide affected employees with career counseling and job placement assistance.

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