The New School, a bastion of progressive education, has cut 87 jobs, including 19 full-time faculty, just months after offering voluntary separation packages. This substantial workforce reduction, announced in 2026, aims to close a $60 million budget gap, impacting various departments.
The New School attempted to mitigate staff reductions through voluntary separations, but still implemented significant mandatory layoffs, indicating a deeper, unaddressed financial instability.
The New School is likely facing ongoing financial challenges that could lead to further restructuring and impact its academic identity.
What Caused The New School Staff Reduction in 2026?
- The reduction includes 68 staffers and 19 faculty members, according to Wwd.
- The New School plans to lay off 15 percent of its university's full-time faculty and staff, as reported by Artforum.
- In December, 40 percent of The New School staffers had received voluntary separation or early retirement offers, according to artforum.com.
- All 19 impacted faculty members were exclusively from the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts and the New School for Social Research, as confirmed by Hyperallergic.
The 15 percent workforce reduction and prior voluntary separation offers confirm a persistent financial struggle. The university required drastic measures to address its $60 million budget gap.
The Impact of The New School Layoffs on Academic Programs
The concentration of all 19 faculty layoffs within the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts and the New School for Social Research suggests a targeted restructuring that could fundamentally alter the university's academic focus and mission.
While Artforum reported 40 percent of staffers received voluntary separation offers, implying a strategy to mitigate job losses, wwd.com and Hyperallergic confirmed 68 staffers were still among the 87 mandatory layoffs, according to wwd.com and Hyperallergic. The voluntary program was either insufficient or largely unsuccessful in preventing significant forced reductions.
