Temple plans to cut positions, faces $60 million deficit next year

Temple University — facing a $19 million budget deficit and projecting more tough financial times ahead — is eliminating some jobs.

Ken Kaiser, senior vice president and chief operating officer, said that reductions will happen through retirements and resignations, but that a not-yet-determined number of layoffs will also be necessary.

Layoffs could come soon after the fiscal year begins on July 1, Kaiser said.

President John Fry had announced this spring that Temple was facing a projected $85 million deficit for the 2025 fiscal year; he directed belt-tightening, including hiring and travel review and other measures. That gap was reduced to $19 million, and a $60 million deficit is forecast for 2026.

Temple’s enrollment has declined by about 10,000 students since 2017, leading to a revenue drop of about $200 million, and its state funding has been flat for several years. But operating costs are rising — utilities and insurance, but mostly salary and benefits.

“While we are building back enrollment, our expenses — specifically salaries, benefits and financial aid — are increasing at a much faster pace,“ Fry said in a letter to the Temple community sent Wednesday. “For this reason, fiscal year 2026 — and the next two years — will continue to be challenging until we significantly grow overall enrollment and identify new revenue sources. In short, we have some difficult but necessary decisions to make over the next three fiscal years.”

Earlier this year, Fry said the university’s financial picture was “further complicated” by funding uncertainty at the federal level; President Donald Trump’s administration has so far cut about $3 million in federal funding to Temple, and revoked the student visas of several Temple students.

In prior tough years, university reserves helped make ends meet.

But, Fry said, that is “not a sustainable practice.”

To shore up Temple’s finances, Fry said, he asked schools, colleges, and administrative units to scrutinize their operations, reducing their salary budget by 5%.

“These plans are currently being reviewed to ensure they are reasonable and equitable and also align with Temple’s overall priorities,” Fry wrote. “Unfortunately, this will result in the elimination of some positions.”

Fry said capital projects, including the construction of Paley Hall and the Caroline Kimmel Pavilion for the Arts and Communication, will continue — the money for both comes from state funding and philanthropic support, and those funds cannot be used for other purposes.

Instead of giving non-represented employees a 3% raise, as it had planned, Temple will give them a 1.5% raise, and a 1.5% non-recurring payment.

Fry said he knows that Temple’s finances cannot be righted through cuts alone.

“We need to make academic investments and pursue initiatives that will spur enrollment and revenue growth,” he wrote. “We are developing new initiatives as part of our strategic plan update, and we hope to grow enrollment through new programs and flexible online degree pathways. I am confident in our ability to overcome these challenges, and we are already making good progress.”

Temple is not alone in its fiscal issues.

“This is a really difficult time for higher education,” Kaiser said. “It’s a difficult time for a school like Temple — a big, public institution.”

Even Ivy League universities are encountering challenges; the University of Pennsylvania took out a $500 million line of credit earlier this month as it faces hundreds of millions in potential cuts in federal aid.

And though Temple’s enrollment is building back up, the next few years figure to be tough, Kaiser said.

“This isn’t a one and done,” Kaiser said. “We have a structural deficit. We could close it all in one year, but that would mean making drastic, probably damaging changes to Temple.”

Instead, Kaiser said, the university will proceed carefully, but selected layoffs are possible in subsequent years.

“We’re looking for a probably three-year period of making difficult decisions,” he said.