The University of Louisville is implementing a hiring freeze through at least this summer, citing uncertainty caused by new policies and executive orders of President Donald Trump’s administration.
U of L President Kim Schatzel informed faculty and staff of the policy change in a campus-wide email Friday morning. She cited Trump’s executive orders affecting financial assistance and research grants, as well as the National Institutes of Health cutting the percentage of indirects costs it will cover for research grants.
“Given the volatility, uncertainty and potential impact on UofL’s financial situation, the university is being proactive in implementing strategic fiscal management measures to ensure a balanced budget,” Schatzel wrote. “Many peer universities have announced similar measures to cope with the uncertainty.”
One measure is an immediate pause on all permanent and temporary full-time faculty and staff positions from now until July 15, except those where commitments were already given.
The university is also suspending expenditures of departmental research incentive funds, with faculty encouraged “to limit expenditures of individual research incentive funds.”
The NIH is the largest funder of health research in the United States, awarding grants to not just fully fund the direct costs of such research, but also a portion of the indirect costs related to the facilities and staff needed to conduct the research.
Earlier this month, the NIH cut the rate of indirect costs it would cover to 15%, with the White House saying it was needed to cut what it said were overhead costs and waste. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order last week to block the cuts from going into effect.
In her email, Schatzel wrote that the NIH cut could mean an annual loss of $20 to $23 million in research support.
Democratic Congressman Morgan McGarvey of Louisville responded to news of the university’s hiring freeze with criticism of the Trump administration actions.
“Trump's funding freeze is illegal — we'll keep fighting it with every tool we have,” McGarvey said in a statement.
University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto said last week he expects the NIH policy would cut tens of millions of dollars annually from its research funding to combat cancer and other diseases, including at least $40 million over the next year.
“More important than any numbers, though, it will impact the work we do to advance the health of Kentucky in those areas most critical to our future — including cancer, heart disease, children’s health, Alzheimer’s and opioid use disorder,” Capilouto wrote in his statement.
The University of Louisville recently received a $11.7 million grant from the NIH to launch the Louisville Clinical and Translational Research Center, which was announced last month. The center is described as “a statewide effort that will transform the university’s clinical research infrastructure and find meaningful solutions to combat chronic conditions like cardiac disease, stroke and cancer that disproportionately affect Kentuckians in urban and rural areas alike.”
According to an NIH grant database, U of L was awarded $65.5 million of NIH grant funding in the 2024 fiscal year, with $20.7 million of that going to indirect costs.
This story has been updated with additional information.
State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
