Loyola University Maryland eliminates 66 jobs amid $20 million deficit

Loyola University Maryland, the state’s second-largest private university, eliminated 66 jobs this month as it works to resolve a $20 million structural deficit.

Twenty-nine employees were laid off and 37 vacant positions were eliminated as part of the reorganization at the Jesuit university in North Baltimore.

Loyola is the latest Maryland college to announce job cuts, following the University of Maryland, College Park and Bowie State University. The cuts come as enrollment declines across the country begin to put pressure on colleges to reduce costs and balance their budgets.

In a statement shared with The Banner, Loyola President Terrence Sawyer said Loyola is “well-positioned for the future,” though he noted that Loyola is not immune from the challenges facing the sector.

“Over the past few years, our campus community has been having candid conversations about the pressures impacting higher education, and thereby Loyola,” he said. “While Loyola has consistently balanced its budget each year, it has done so in a way that has not allowed us to make the investments needed to aggressively support our strategic plan.”

Two years ago, Sawyer hired Huron Consulting Group to assess the university’s financial position and strategic plan. The university then created several work groups to find cost savings across departments; in total, the work groups are expected to identify $18 million in savings across academic programs, compensation and benefits, technology and the endowment, according to an email sent to the campus in February. University vice presidents are responsible for finding an additional $2 million in cost savings.

The university cut the 66 jobs after comparing its staffing to that of similarly sized colleges, Sawyer said.

Most of the university’s reports on the deficit are private, only accessible to those with a Loyola email address. The university declined to make the reports public or share them with The Banner.

In a campus-only town hall last fall, Sawyer shared that the university ended the 2025 fiscal year with an operational deficit of $4 million that it closed by using its reserve fund, according to The Greyhound, the university’s student newspaper.

“This reduction in force was made along with other responsible spending reductions and plans for growth in revenues,” Sawyer told The Banner this week. “It is our view that these moves represent the stewardship that our students and families deserve.”

The university enrolls nearly 4,900 students, according to its website. About 3,900 of those are undergraduates. Yearly tuition stands at $61,810, though 99% of students, according to the university, receive financial aid.

Over the winter, the university announced that it had received three record-breaking gifts in a row, netting $32 million in the span of two months, though those gifts are restricted for specific projects and programs.

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