Bowie State University raised nearly $130 million. Now it’s planning layoffs.

Bowie State University leaders proclaimed this spring that Maryland’s oldest historically Black college was “enjoying one of the most dramatic eras of growth in its 160-year history.”

It had just raised a record $128.5 million, including $75 million from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.

But the financial picture leaders painted just two months later was far less rosy. The university is facing its second multimillion-dollar deficit in two years and layoffs are the only way out, President Aminta Breaux said. Expenses are rising, and the pool of prospective students is shrinking. Bowie State saw the largest single-year drop in enrollment in the University System of Maryland last year, losing 6% of its roughly 6,000 students.

Next, Breaux told a crowd of over 200 employees this month, the university is considering the extraordinary step of laying off tenured professors, whose jobs are typically protected.

The austerity measures have enraged members of the faculty senate, 86% of whom recently voted no confidence in Breaux, according to a letter they sent to the university system chancellor. They’ve accused Breaux and other leaders of spending too much on administration and not enough on teaching, and they want the university to dip into its newly plump endowment to dig out of the hole.

“Our vote is a cry for help to the system, to the legislators and to the public,” said Tyesha Burks, a professor at the university and the chair of the faculty senate. “We are drowning.”

In a three page message to the university late last week, Breaux acknowledged the vote of no confidence, calling it “puzzling and deeply disappointing.”

She continued: “Unfortunately, misinformation and incomplete narratives have continued to spread in ways that have harmed the reputation of Bowie State University and overshadowed the extraordinary work taking place across this institution every day.”

University system spokesperson Mike Sandler declined to comment on the vote and did not answer a question about whether Chancellor Jay A. Perman would meet with Bowie State faculty.

‘It’s storming’

The financial issues at Bowie State reflect a nationwide trend in higher education. Fewer students are going to college, meaning regional public universities, which tend to have smaller student populations, fewer resources and less name recognition, are bringing in fewer tuition dollars.

“Enrollment shifts have significant financial implications,” Breaux told Bowie State employees at a standing-room-only town hall event this month, where guests entered through metal detectors and more than a dozen campus police officers patrolled.

Having fewer students, Breaux said, leads to less money coming in from dining, housing and the bookstore, which means less revenue for the university. Since 2023, according to her budget presentation, the university has lost $5,665,450 in tuition due to a decrease of 787 students. That enrollment drop, in addition to increased expenses, makes up a large chunk of this year’s $18 million deficit.

Many of the students who enroll can’t pay. Manish Kumar, the university’s vice president for administration and finance, said Bowie State had to send 2,800 students to collections last year.

And while Bowie State is newly flush with cash — 90% of the $128.5 million it just raised is already in the bank — Breaux said the university isn’t using that money to reduce its deficit. She said it will be invested in the endowment, which has grown from $7 million to $50 million in the seven years she’s been president.

Among historically Black colleges nationwide, Bowie State will soon rank in the top 10 for endowment size; it is projected to reach $85 million by fiscal year 2027, a 12-fold increase over the past decade.

“President Breaux says the endowment is there to weather the storm,” said Burks, the faculty senate president. “It’s storming.”

Faculty leaders have accused Breaux and other senior leaders of mismanaging the university’s finances, enrollment and hiring. Bowie State shouldn’t be in a deficit at all, some faculty members say, and the university has hired too many senior administrators. They also believe one reason enrollment has decreased is the university hasn’t properly invested in housing options.

But Breaux said the money issues are structural, meaning they can’t be fixed with a one-time investment.

Instead, Breaux is working to “realign” the university’s priorities. That includes merging academic departments, she said, though she didn’t specify which ones, and faculty say they remain in the dark. Departmental reorganization will save the university $500,000, according to the budget presentation.

“We don’t know what departments are merging or how many are,” said Ayanna Lynch, a psychology professor. “There has been no discussion at all.”

‘Transformation’ ahead

Last fiscal year, Bowie State resolved its $13.6 million deficit through cost reductions, delayed hiring, elimination of vacant positions and process improvements, according to Stacie Burgess, a university spokesperson. Breaux, who makes $545,000, said she and her presidential cabinet donated their pay increases last year to the university to support scholarships for students.

But an even bigger deficit this fiscal year means tougher decisions lie ahead. The university plans to eliminate 75 jobs, saving $5.5 million by cutting 49 vacant positions and $1.7 million by laying off 26 employees, according to Breaux’s presentation at the town hall.

The university is also looking past this year and exploring all of its options, including retrenchment, which is a fancy word for laying off tenured and tenure-track professors. Being tenured or on the tenure track usually means you’re immune to layoffs. Only in extreme circumstances can a tenured professor lose their job.

According to policy, Bowie State has to give faculty at least a year’s notice. Because of that, Breaux said, the university was slated to form a retrenchment committee last week. The committee is expected to work throughout the summer and offer recommendations next year. If retrenchment occurs, it will take place in 2028.

Although leaders at the university say reorganization and retrenchment won’t affect students, faculty say otherwise.

“Reducing faculty and staff is absolutely going to impact students,” Lynch said. “They’re asking us to do more with the same number of classes. That means our class size is going to be bigger and our workload is going to increase.”

At Bowie State, instruction is the largest proportion of the university’s operating budget. This fiscal year, it cost $51.1 million. Faculty members make up about 43.1% of the university’s workforce, slightly above the system average of 39.8%, according to Kumar’s presentation during the town hall.

Breaux, in her remarks, said retrenchment may help with the “transformation” that Bowie State is experiencing. The university, she said, has to be innovative and entrepreneurial. That means launching new programs, such as the recently announced Bachelor of Science in risk management and insurance, to help address growing workforce shortages, according to Breaux.

“We are transforming the institution to ensure that we are aligning areas and functions that make sense for today, for the future, not what we were doing 10 or 20 years ago,” she said. “Our learners are different; the workforce is different. We must change.”

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