As federal funding cuts continue to loom, uncertainty surrounds the future of academic programs at the University of Hawaii.
Ashley Maynard, a professor of psychology, expressed concerns about the long-term effects on research, graduate admissions and workforce development. While there have been no direct cuts to her department yet, Maynard said she is preparing for potential austerity measures.
“We have to be very careful not to over-commit because the funding climate is so unpredictable,” she said.
The uncertainty has led to conversations about reducing graduate admissions, which could have a cascading effect on research and undergraduate education.
Having fewer graduate students will impact the department’s ability to mentor undergraduates, who rely on teaching assistants for support in their research. Maynard emphasized that the apprenticeship model used for training graduate students also supports the undergraduate experience.
“If we have fewer graduate students, there’s a good chance we will be putting fewer people into the workforce, including clinically trained psychologists who can serve our community,” she said.
The uncertainty surrounding federal funding also has significant implications for other programs affecting UH students.
However, UH officials got some positive news Friday when U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon announced that UH had been dropped from a list of universities being investigated for possible violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
The U.S. DOE’s Office for Civil Rights on Monday informed 60 institutions of higher education across the country, including UH, that they were facing “potential enforcement actions if they do not fulfill their obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students on campus, including uninterrupted access to campus facilities and educational opportunities.”
By Friday, the list of institutions had been pared to 52 colleges and did not include UH.
But other UH programs remain at risk.
Potential cuts to federal programs, such as the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program, or GEAR UP, which has been around for over two decades, could negatively affect Hawaii’s public school students. GEAR UP, which receives federal DOE funding, aims to increase the number of low-income students pursuing higher education, including at UH Manoa.
UH received $370 million in its latest round of federal funding for a wide range of research projects, positions and programs, including those focused on Native Hawaiian education, according to Vassilis Syrmos, UH’s vice president for research and innovation. And based on what’s already happening at other institutions, Syrmos explained that the Trump administration’s plans to eliminate projects or programs related to diversity, equality, and inclusion — along with the recent plan to purge the federal DOE — have broader implications for UH.
For example, the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School recently announced hiring and spending freezes and rescinded admissions to its biomedical science doctorate program due to ongoing uncertainty surrounding federal funding, affecting several dozen students.
Similarly, The Daily Iowan reported that the University of Iowa’s English department sent a message to Ph.D. and master of fine arts students informing them that all prospective and current graduate admissions would be rescinded or revised due to concerns about federal funding cuts under the Trump administration.
UH Manoa has yet to take any such actions, according to a spokesperson.
Still, the uncertainty continues to cast a shadow over the university’s planning, with Maynard noting the broader impact on departments and programs.
Marguerite Butler, a faculty member at the UH Manoa School of Life Sciences, said the tenuous situation has already affected some graduate students. One of the school’s Fulbright Scholar students lost her federally funded fellowship in Indonesia and doesn’t even have money to fly back home,” Butler said during a town hall meeting Thursday with U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda.
Butler also reported that several graduate students, particularly those working on climate change-related Ph.D. projects, fear losing their funding.
“We’ve started to be very conservative because we just don’t know how many current students will lose their funding. So we’re afraid to make offers of teaching assistantships to this incoming class,” she said.
The high cost of living in Hawaii adds another layer of concern. Despite small increases in graduate student stipends, Butler said many still qualify for SNAP benefits, more familiarly known as food stamps, and she’s worried they might lose that support as well, as the Trump administration takes a chainsaw to agencies overseeing federal entitlements such as Medicaid and Social Security.
Also in doubt is support for Native Hawaiian places of learning, teacher education and early childhood initiatives, and programs focused on sustainability, further complicating curriculum discussions.
While there has been no indication yet of impending cuts to faculty or staff positions at UH Manoa, Maynard noted the situation remains fluid.
“Each day brings a new batch of chaos,” she said.
Maynard also acknowledged that the uncertainty surrounding federal funding is creating anxiety among faculty and graduate students, particularly those whose grant funding has been halted.
Despite these challenges, she remains optimistic about the university’s commitment to its students.
“In spite of this, students will graduate in May, more will graduate in December, and we are still working hard to ensure they stay on track,” she said. “We’re all doubling down to make sure our students succeed.”
