Teaching assistants are being told not to come to class. There are talks of budget cuts, even a budget “crisis.” Freddy P’s face on a cereal box advertising budget changes that seem precarious and negative for the Saint Louis University community. Is SLU upholding the Jesuit values it claims to follow—and has it ever?
What does it all mean? How did this all start?
In 2008, the birth rate in the U.S. dropped from 2.3 to 1.7. Due to the recession, the drop was the start of a bigger trend in which birth rates began to consistently decrease in the U.S. This poses a threat to college campuses as fewer students means less tuition revenue, the main source of income for the majority of colleges across the U.S., SLU included. In two years, the number of high school graduates will drop. As a result, SLU’s customers will drop.
It is unfair how vague SLU has been in communicating this with its students. They have a responsibility as an institution to address these issues directly, not with a corporate sounding “everything’s going to be okay” email sent to the student body that does not actually inform students what is going on. SLU needs to be held accountable for spreading awareness of the budget cut issue. I do not get paid enough (or anything, actually) to be snooping around for this information, but I know that the board of directors makes too much to only say reassuring things that hold no substance.
I think the most important aspect of this situation is maintaining college as an opportunity for anyone, regardless of economic status. With the budget cuts and increased enrollment/tuition fees, it is highly plausible that college in a few years will be looking like even more of a luxury than it already is. This could affect full rides like the Martin Luther King Jr. scholarship that mostly benefits low-income, first-generation students who need the support. Budget cuts could weed out these resources at colleges because they do not have the funds to make sure that admission is equitable for people without privilege.
What does this mean for SLU, and what have they actually done in preparation for the cliff?
On Sept. 5, SLU released a statement to only faculty and staff outlining the situation. Essentially, SLU admits, in the most professional way possible, they screwed up. They state that “expenses have outpaced revenue growth” and promise to take a “thoughtful and strategic approach” to tackling this budget crisis.
It is a bold claim that fundamentally SLU is in a “strong fiscal position” if the revenues are less than the expenses. This in and of itself is the first indicator that they are not in a strong fiscal position. It is all a facade in order to save face.
SLU has put together three project teams to deal with the issue. Each team is focusing on one aspect of the issue. After reading the memo, here is what I think is going to happen on each front.
Team one’s role is to improve “immediate operational efficiencies.” This is a fancy way of saying SLU is going to lay people off and reduce budgets, which is a short-term solution to a long-term problem. They literally state that they plan on finding a way to run the university with “fewer administrators and staff at the university, college and school levels.” So yes, that probably means fewer RAs, fewer desk positions, fewer TAs, fewer advisors—anything that is extra could be sliced off in the coming year.
Team two is tasked with finding ways to increase revenues. Since we know that tuition is the main source of revenue for SLU, their plan will most likely be to decrease the tuition discount rate that students receive across the board. At SLU, no one pays the full price of tuition. The discount rate on tuition is approximately 50%. While they will not be able to reduce it for current students, they will most likely increase tuition even more as they have over the last few years, as well as decrease the amount of tuition scholarships granted to incoming students for 2026 and after.
They will also probably look into increasing the number of international students and graduate students admitted, as those revenue pools are not as affected by the drop in U.S. students. International students often pay much more in tuition because they do not receive federal aid, which is greedy in and of itself but a smart decision if there is demand for it.
As stated in the memo, team three, which is made up of all faculty, will decide “more significant changes to the academic enterprise.” A clever way to allude to drastic changes in the class structure, classes provided and general programs that SLU offers. This could mean entire classes being cut, departments being cut, class sizes getting bigger to reduce the number of teachers needed and different overall systems currently in place, such as Banner or course registration websites being changed.
We have already experienced the effects of some of these changes being slowly implemented into the culture of SLU. I’ve heard stories of TA’s being told not to go to lecture because they will not be paid. Last year as an RA I had a budget of $100 a month to run activities for my floor. This year, we are given $40 per semester. While it is clear that the changes may not be in favor of quality of life here, I highly doubt that SLU itself is in a financial position so bad that it will have to close down. It is a prestigious enough institution to survive the enrollment cliff and has enough leverage to even make financial decisions such as buying out Harris-Stowe, similar to what Washington University, St. Louis, did with Fontebonne.
Everything is up in the air at the moment. It is clear that there is a problem, and SLU is doing their best to tackle it. If they were more clear about their intentions and strategy, rumors would probably carry less weight.
What should we, as students who are predominantly affected by these decisions, do to make sure our interests are taken care of? Talking to professors in class to open up the conversation is a good way to get information on what is really going on. Reaching out to the deans of colleges and the Student Government Association is a good way to voice the concerns of students as well. It is important that our needs are not overlooked when it comes to the financial decisions that SLU instates to ensure that the institution upholds the equitable and just standards it claims to pursue.