Dear Faculty and Staff,
As we move further into the fall quarter, we want to share an update about DePaul’s fall enrollment and financial outlook. While there are several encouraging signs in new student enrollment, our overall fall quarter enrollment puts us below budget for FY27.
Several factors are contributing to our financial situation, including changes to federal graduate student loan programs, declines in continuing undergraduate enrollment and international student enrollment, and increasing student need for financial aid.
While these financial pressures require us to make difficult decisions, we are prioritizing avoiding layoffs. As part of that effort, a salary and wage increase pool for faculty and staff this year is not viable.
We recognize that faculty and staff are central to our mission and are therefore deeply disheartened that a salary increase this year is not possible. We continue to work closely with the Board of Trustees to pursue strategic initiatives that will position the university for long-term sustainability.
Upholding our commitment to shared governance, we will work in close collaboration with DePaul’s Strategic Resource Allocation Committee, known as SRAC, as well as the vice presidents and deans, to address the budget gap during the remainder of the fiscal year. We will share updates as they become available. Again, layoffs are not an option being considered.
Throughout the academic year, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to attend financial health and enrollment updates, as well as other information sessions, where university leaders will share further details and answer questions. The first session will be on Nov. 2, and you can find a registration link, as well as details about other upcoming sessions here. Additional fall enrollment and FY27 budget information is available to faculty and staff on the Budget Blueprint website.
Several distinct factors are contributing to the enrollment and financial pressures we are experiencing:
- Undergraduate students and families are demonstrating higher levels of financial need, requiring greater institutional aid from DePaul while facing affordability gaps.
- Continuing undergraduate enrollment has declined and remains the university’s most significant enrollment challenge.
- For graduate students, changes to federal loan programs are reducing options.
- International graduate enrollment remains low amid federal government changes in visa requirements and broader uncertainty about studying in the United States.
Even as we face significant financial pressure, DePaul continues to uphold its commitment to access, affordability, and student success.
- DePaul’s institutional financial aid increased by nearly $15.5 million, bringing the total for FY27 to roughly $372 million.
- The percentage of DePaul students receiving Pell Grants increased from 30.3% in FY20 to 38.6% in FY26.
- Uniting education and the workplace by launching a co-op program through DePaul’s Driehaus College of Business. The co-op program makes paid, professional work experience part of the DePaul business degree and could serve as a model for other programs across the university.
- Advancing career readiness by launching a new effort to deliver personalized support to every DePaul student. The DePaul Career Advantage Program has the potential to transform how we prepare students to achieve their professional aspirations from the moment they arrive at DePaul. More will be shared soon about this program.
- Supporting domestic graduate enrollment and improving net tuition revenue through targeted marketing and branding. We are launching new campaigns designed to build on domestic enrollment growth, reach new recruitment markets, and improve net tuition revenue over time.
The Designing DePaul strategic plan we built together is charting a path through this difficult moment. If we continue to implement these strategies with urgency, we can strengthen enrollment and move toward greater financial stability. Doing so will require focus and persistence, but the encouraging results we are already seeing in new student enrollment demonstrate that students continue to see the value of a DePaul education.
Thank you for your continued dedication to DePaul and, most importantly, to our students. Over the next several weeks, we will continue to attend meetings hosted by our shared governance councils, as well as our colleges and schools. We welcome your questions and look forward to continuing to engage in conversation.
Sincerely,
Robert L. Manuel
President
Russell Ivy
Provost and Senior Vice President
Sherri Sidler
Executive Vice President and CFO