Local News

Clark University to lay off 30% of faculty amid restructuring

Enrollment declines and financial pressures force academic overhaul.

Clark University campus in Worcester. Pat Greenhouse for the Boston Globe

June 5, 2025

1 minute to read

Clark University is laying off up to 30% of its faculty and 5% of its staff as it restructures its degree programs due to enrollment and financial challenges.

“All of higher education, Clark included, is at a critical inflection point,” Clark University President David Fithian said in a statement. “Rather than simply meet this challenging moment as an exercise in budget constraint, we have taken a longer view, leaning into current strengths and what is best about Clark to offer our students an even more compelling experience going forward.”

The Worcester-based university confirmed the layoffs to Boston.com on Thursday afternoon.

According to the Common Data Set of Clark University for the 2024-2025 academic year, the school employed 228 full-time and 101 part-time instructional faculty members.

A university spokesperson stated that the school employs 930 faculty and staff members.

The University would not confirm the exact number of layoffs due to the shifting landscape; however, based on the provided percentages, approximately 100 faculty members and 30 staff members are expected to be let go.

The personnel decisions will begin with retirements and attrition, followed by non-tenure, pre-tenure, and adjunct faculty. It is too soon to determine if the layoffs will impact tenured faculty.

According to the Common Data Set, the school enrolled 2,229 undergraduate students and has a student-to-faculty ratio of 8.5:1.

In a press release to the Clark University community, the school outlined its plans to refocus its curriculum and academic departments on the most relevant areas, including Climate, Environment, and Society, Media Arts, Computing and Design, and Health and Human Behavior.

The school also plans to streamline its operations to support the areas of focus by adding new majors, courses, and concentrations, and eliminating lower-enrolled majors.

The changes will address the financial pressures of the recent lower-than-expected enrollment.

“While change is hard and we’ve had to make difficult decisions, I am tremendously excited about the future at Clark,” Provost John Magee said in a statement.