Los Angeles, California – The University of Southern California will implement a wave of layoffs and cost-cutting measures in an attempt to address what interim President Beong-Soo Kim called a “recurring, structural deficit” that threatens the long-term stability of one of the country’s most prominent private research universities.
In a message sent to faculty and staff on Monday, Kim revealed that USC closed fiscal year 2025 with a $200 million operating deficit — a sharp increase from the $158 million shortfall recorded the previous year. Despite a strong year in fundraising and short-term cost-saving measures already in place, the university’s financial model continues to falter.
The shortfall, Kim wrote, stems from both internal inefficiencies and external headwinds. USC’s medical system delivered weak returns, international student enrollment has declined, and looming cuts to federal research funding could cost the university another $300 million annually — a blow Kim described as impossible to absorb without structural change…