Without significant investments in research faculty, expansion will dilute the undergraduate experience; the University’s track record suggests those investments are unlikely.
UChicago’s partnership with the Massachusetts research institution—which will end next month after 13 years—offered valuable opportunities for students and faculty but cost the University over $100 million.
Federal policy changes like grant terminations and increased barriers for international students have the potential to throw the University off track, administrators said at a town hall last week.
The University’s budget deficit shrank by 44 percent, from $288 to $160 million, in 2025. “That’s probably our biggest singular reduction in any year ever” outside of the COVID era, CFO Ivan Samstein told the Maroon.
UChicago’s pending sale of the Center for Research in Security Prices to Morningstar has attracted scrutiny regarding financial pressures on the University, but CRSP’s chair told the Maroon the move was independently motivated.
In an October 15 interview with the Maroon, University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos discussed doctoral education amid admissions pauses, the University’s protection of free speech and its community, and how AI might fit into the Core Curriculum.
Members of multiple unions rallied in protest of the University’s sweeping budget cuts and in solidarity with the Division of the Arts & Humanities, which faces a major restructuring and an admissions pause announced over the summer.
Provost Katherine Baicker and CFO Ivan Samstein sat down with the Maroon to discuss the impacts of grant freezes, visa revocations, and other federal policy changes on the University’s finances.
As the University continues to weather a challenging financial landscape, administrators signaled cautious optimism—and a need for flexibility—in addressing the year ahead.
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