Several administrative and other staff members at Penn’s School of Nursing were recently laid off as part of cuts to the school’s operating budget, multiple employees told The Daily Pennsylvanian.
Five Nursing affiliates — who requested anonymity for fear of retribution — attributed the job losses to University-wide spending reductions driven by federal funding uncertainty. One employee estimated that seven or eight individuals were terminated from their positions.
Penn’s fiscal year 2027 budget states that the school “continues to monitor the challenging federal funding environment and is modeling and budgeting the projected impact.”
Multiple requests for comment were left with Penn Nursing.
The budget comes after Penn directed all schools and centers to reduce certain expenditures by 4% in January, citing “uncertainty about how evolving federal policy changes might impact” the University.
At the time, Provost John Jackson Jr. and Executive Vice President Mark Dingfield instructed Penn’s schools to “undertake a proactive planning process” to manage costs in FY27. Jackson and Dingfield later acknowledged that the measures could lead to staff reductions.
According to the budget, “Penn Nursing is reducing spending in most non-compensation areas” and “staff vacancies will remain unfilled.”
In June, Nursing School Dean Antonia Villarruel and Vice Dean for Administration and Finance Patrick Guinan sent an email to school employees announcing the launch of a new initiative aimed at increasing operational efficiency. The message, obtained by the DP, cited “unprecedented challenges to research, higher education, and healthcare.”
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“Processes, workflows, technology, resource allocation, and organizational structures are being examined,” Villarruel and Guinan wrote. “Our goal is to redesign operational and service models that are more efficient and more effectively aligned with the School’s long-term direction.”
The email described several priority areas for the “Together for Tomorrow” initiative, including “smoother” workflows and alignment of “service needs and available resources.”
In a subsequent message, Guinan referenced the initiative while describing “the reallocation of workflows” —explaining that the school’s administrative units were “adapting services and workflows to meet evolving needs and priorities.”
“Thank you for your partnership, understanding, and flexibility as we work together to support a stronger and more sustainable future,” Guinan wrote.
President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has created ongoing federal funding uncertainty for Penn.
In February 2025, the National Institutes of Health implemented a 15% cap on indirect costs — which can fund administrative support — charged to federal grants.
A month later, the University instructed several schools to cut graduate admissions rates — including, in some cases, after programs had already accepted students. That same month, the Trump administration froze $175 million in federal funding to Penn.
Over the following months, the University has continued to cite federal pressures as it navigates budgetary concerns. The Nursing School is the latest of several at Penn to lay off employees amid federal funding uncertainty. In October 2025, the School of Social Policy & Practice announced that it would reduce its staff by 8%. In June, the Graduate School of Education laid off several staff members.
In June, a spokesperson for the Office of Budget Planning and Analysis wrote in a statement that “even as the landscape for higher education remains challenging,” the University’s budget “reflects confidence in Penn’s direction and a commitment to academic excellence, disciplined financial stewardship, and sustained strategic investment in the University’s future.”
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Staff reporter Mbresa Simnica covers administration and can be reached at simnica@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies economics and political science.
Senior reporter Alex Dash covers administration and can be reached at dash@thedp.com. At Penn, he studies history and political science. Follow him on X @AlexBDash.
