UT Arlington announces hiring freeze, salary adjustments
UT Arlington has paused hiring and frozen salaries as it adjusts to anticipated enrollment declines and changes to federal funding.
Higher education in Texas has been responding to grant cuts, bans on DEI programs, international students being deleted from the system that keeps visa records, a loss of in-state tuition for undocumented students, and now, a travel ban that colleges say will severely impact enrollment.
UT Arlington’s student led newspaper The Shorthorn first reported the budget cuts June 17, after an email from President Jennifer Cowley was sent to faculty and staff on June 16.
While the school has steady funding from the state, about 17% comes from the federal government — 8.8% for student financial aid and 8.5% from grants and contracts. In addition, federal policy plays a part in the college’s other revenue streams.
The university is the second largest in the UT System, with 41,000 students and 2,454 faculty members.
All internal and external job postings on recruiting have been removed and no new openings will be posted.
The pause on salary adjustments and the hiring freeze will not affect faculty and students whose jobs are funded externally through grants, contracts and auxiliary services. Staff hiring and salary adjustments will take effect on July 3 and will remain in effect until further notice.
Other budget restrictions include software purchases. Only those that reduce cost and improve efficiency will be approved
There will also be some cuts to administrative and academic budgets and merit increases will be looked at when the fall semester starts.
This comes at a time when research grants are in decline, international student visa interviews have been paused and President Donald Trump has placed a travel ban on students from 12 countries. Cowley said the university is concerned that federal budget proposals that may impact financial aid, student support services and research and development.
UTA is still assessing the impact of the state’s decision to stop offering in-state tuition discounts for undocumented students after the Justice Department filed a complaint alleging the policy violates federal law.
“This change will have a significant impact on affected students at public universities across the state,” Shelby Boseman, chief legal officer and chair of the executive orders task force, said in and email on June 10 to students and staff. “We are actively working with the UT System to determine the next steps in addressing this matter.”
Another situation unfolding is that the Trump administration is signaling it will add 36 countries to the travel ban.
As a whole, international students bring in lots of money, not only to their schools but also the economy as a whole. According to a November 2024 report from NAFSA: Association of International Educators, over 1 million international students contributed $43.8 billion to the U.S. economy during the 2023-24 academic year and supported more than 378,000 jobs.
Tarrant County College said in an email that it is tracking legislation and will ensure that is following the law.
“We will notify any affected students, and as we would for all students, encourage them to utilize TCC’s student resources through our student affairs teams. In addition, there are no planned budget cuts specifically associated with this legislation.”
TCU did not respond to a request for comment.