‘A Dramatic and Unprecedented Contraction’: A Look Inside a $375-Million Budget Shortfall

These days, college leaders have been delivering an unmistakable message about the new coronavirus’s effect on institutional finances: Things are bad and likely to get worse.

The Johns Hopkins University forecast net losses for the next fiscal year to be as much as $375 million. The president, Ronald J. Daniels, also provided an unusually detailed picture of the scope of the challenges that the coronavirus has presented to his institution’s finances.

“The magnitude of the challenges we face is unlike any we have experienced in recent memory,” Daniels recently said in a statement. The university, he said, was experiencing “a dramatic and unprecedented contraction.”

Daniels also outlined a three-phase plan to mitigate losses, which includes cutting the salaries of top leaders, restricting new hires, and suspending contributions to employees’ retirement accounts. Here’s a closer look at some of the key areas of financial loss, and how Hopkins hopes to respond.